Page 28 - Star Wars Insider #188
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GRIEVOUS
first look at what fully rendered visiting a friend in Prague, so 01 The fearsome
Grievous was going to look like it was fresh in my mind, and Grievous, as 01
voiced by
was actually in Star Wars Insider,” that’s what I went with: yelling Matthew
Wood tells us. “It was on the cover, in a classic villain voice with Wood.
and I remember thinking, ‘Whoa, an Eastern European accent.
02 Wood again
that’s cool. Who’s gonna voice As that hit the processor, I played the
that?’ Because the character has could hear there was this nice general in
Star Wars:
no mouth, we could wait a certain gravelly quality. Then I got the
The Clone
amount of time before Industrial surprising call that George had Wars (2008).
Light & Magic (ILM) needed our picked my audition.”
03 Grievous
fi nal voice-overs.” Wood’s performance of played a big
Busy working on audio effects General Grievous’ biting part in The
Clone Wars
for Revenge of the Sith, Wood metallic voice cuts through the
animated
knew that Lucas wanted the voice Battle of Coruscant in Episode series.
to sound as if it was synthesized III’s opening scenes, as Anakin
04 General
through the circuitry of a voice Skywalker (Hayden Christensen)
Grievous in
box, with computerized, cybernetic and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan Revenge of
qualities, and he and co-sound McGregor) confront the metal the Sith.
editor Christopher Scarabosio general after his kidnapping 05 Matthew
developed a distinctive resonance of Chancellor Palpatine, but Wood in a
recording
for Grievous. “We ran it through McGregor never knew who
booth at
some processing, including voiced Grievous until some Skywalker
ring modulation, to give it that years after the movie’s release. Sound.
synthesized timbre. We put every Grievous battled with Kenobi
06 Grievous
audition we got through that same more than once in Revenge of versus
process, as an egalitarian method the Sith, and during fi lming Obi-Wan.
for every actor’s performance. I McGregor was most often
would play those for George to get sparring with stunt double Kyle
03
his feedback on what things he did Rowling, who stood in for the CG
or didn’t like. And I had the ability cyborg, with Grievous’ lines being
to sit in on all those auditions and read in from off-camera. “I worked
also process them,” Wood explains. with Ewan in my sound capacity
Having that perspective put on all the prequels,” Wood says.
Wood in a very unique position. “I’d record him all the time for the
McCallum was getting nervous post-production dialogue recording
because they needed to cast the role we had to do. It wasn’t until I
of Grievous and time was running worked with him years later, when
out, so Scarabosio encouraged I brought him in to do a whispery
Wood to audition. Wood, a trained voice for The Force Awakens, that
actor, had performed voices for Star I actually got to tell him, ‘Hey,
Wars before, so he anonymously did you know what ended up
submitted his file to Lucas with the happening with that voice? It was
other auditions. He approached me.’ And he was like, ‘No way!’”
Grievous with a gruff, harsh voice,
something to convey the character’s Catching Breath
militaristic sense. And he also added After Dooku’s death, Grievous took
05
a little old-school villain style, in over his position and moved the
the vein of 1930s horror movie Separatist Council from Utapau to
actor Bela Lugosi. Wood recalls, Mustafar at Darth Sidious’ behest.
“I’d coincidentally come back from The over-confident cyborg engaged
with Kenobi for what would be
the final time, as the duel ended
“I remember with Grievous’ demise. To his last,
thinking, ‘Whoa, Grievous barked out orders and
taunts punctuated by a phlegmy
that’s cool. cough. Lucas wanted Grievous to
Who’s gonna have breathing troubles because
he was essentially a testing ground
voice that?’” for the technology that would
28 / STAR WARS INSIDER
