Celebs Share Phantom Menace Memories
Celebs Share Phantom Menace Memories
Words: Bonnie Burton
To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Jar Jar, Queen Amidala, Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn and little Anakin Skywalker hitting the big screen, here are some of our favorite quotes from celebrities and bands interviewed on Starwars.com who shared their favorite memories of The Phantom Menace.
Celebs interviewed include: Kyle Newman (Fanboys director), Seth Green (Robot Chicken, Matthew Senreich (Robot Chicken), Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live), Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes), Simon Pegg (Star Trek), Andrew "Whitey" White (Kaiser Chiefs), Jeordie White (Marilyn Manson/Nine Inch Nails), Weird Al Yankovic (singer), Nick Verreos (Project Runway), Blake Lewis (American Idol), Duff Goldman (Ace of Cakes), Mark Hamilton (Ash), Adam Savage (MythBusters), Brian Harnois (Ghost Hunters International), Hal Sparks (comedian), Sam Endicott (The Bravery), Chris Jericho (WWE Wrestler), and Christopher Guanlao (Silversun Pickups).
EXCERPT:
Hal Sparks -- actor/comedian: I remember sitting through The Phantom Menace secretly hoping the whole time that someone would kill Anakin, just to circumvent the inevitable. Sell the kid to someone else! Anakin is a bad kid because you already know what he's going to become.
Kyle Newman -- Fanboys director: I remember lining up at the Union Square theater in New York City over a day and a half in advance. I was mesmerized by the already massive turnout, and thought, "Is this going to be the last movie to ever have a line like this?" In many ways it was. We didn't need to line up, we wanted to! I had reserved my tickets online two weeks before. My seat at the midnight screening was secure, but I needed to be in that line because the movie is only part of the Star Wars experience!
Seth Green -- Robot Chicken co-creator, actor: Impossibly, I got to go to Skywalker Ranch, and see The Phantom Menace for the first time in the Stag Theater with George just 10 rows behind me. There was so much excitement around the movie, and being there was really overwhelming. Such a great day. Then, of course, I was at the Toys R Us in Burbank at midnight when the toys were released, and in Times Square for Attack of the Clones.
Milo Ventimiglia -- Heroes actor: I never got into the mint-condition action figures collecting side of things. I will admit though that when The Phantom Menace came out, I bought a Darth Maul figure because I just thought he was the coolest. It reminded me of the first time I opened up the package of my Darth Vader figure.
Simon Pegg -- Spaced, Star Trek: The second season of the show [Spaced] came out just after The Phantom Menace, a film which, I'm sorry to say, I found immensely disappointing. Needless to say, [my character] Tim felt the same way and in the opening episode "Time" burns his Star Wars stuff on a funeral pyre. The scene recreates exactly the moment when Luke burns the body of his father at the end of Return of the Jedi. I think it reflected the feelings of many fans. For the first time ever, there was a division in a group of people that had always felt very united. Fortunately, I had an outlet for my displeasure. In one scene Tim screams at a little boy for wanting to buy a Jar Jar Binks doll. It summed up the frustration of the older fans whose expectations were so high and the innocence of the small children for whom it was a colorful and exciting film.
Bill Hader -- Saturday Night Live player: When I was going to college in Phoenix, my friends and I took turns waiting in a line at the mall to see The Phantom Menace. One friend would be there at 6 in the morning; then I took over at noon. People kept asking us what we were in line for, and we thought it was so obvious since there was a dude dressed as Yoda behind me. But for a laugh we bought this cheap Backstreet Boys poster and made a sign saying "In line for Backstreet Boys" and told all these kids we were so excited to see them play.
Jeordie White -- Marilyn Manson/Nine Inch Nails: The first time I saw Episode I, I loved it, then I hated it, now I like it again. Watching it now, it seems the most like a Star Wars movie to me. Of course, there's a lot of Jar Jar Binks, but there's a sense of nostalgia to it now so it's like the other Star Wars movies. Something about it seems classic to me.
Read the full article here:
Celebs Share Phantom Menace Memories
SOURCE: Starwars.com