To celebrate the release of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on Nintendo Switch, Sam Witwer recently sat down to have a chat with StarWars.com, revealing that the 2008 game not only served as his professional gateway to the galaxy far, far away but also got him more obsessed with George Lucas’ science fantasy universe, ultimately leading to his breakthrough role as the voice actor and choreographer of Darth Maul in Dave Filoni’s The Clone Wars series.
“The Force Unleashed changed my Star Wars fandom by making me way more obsessive than I ever was, which I already was. And certainly, when The Force Unleashed came around, then it got even worse. Because then it became an imperative to try to know as much as I could about what are the intentions behind Star Wars as far as George Lucas is concerned.
Who can actually answer that question? I certainly can’t. But I needed to start asking myself that question and ‘I’d better come with some good answers or I wouldn’t be able to do my job’ was my point of view with The Force Unleashed. And then going forward to Clone Wars and everything that’s happened since, it’s been a very interesting 15-year relationship with Lucasfilm.”
Portraying Starkiller in The Force Unleashed certainly left an impression on Star Wars fans, and the actor has since continued his galaxy far, far away streak through Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels.
The Darth Maul we saw in Episode I – The Phantom Menace was mostly silent, so it wouldn’t be an overstatement to suggest we owe the villain we’ve all grown to know and love over the years to Sam Witwer and his wonderful performance.
As for The Force Unleashed, the third-person game can best be described as a very older and simpler version of Jedi Fallen Order, where players take control of Starkiller and use a variety of sword techniques and Force abilities to pave their way through countless Stormtroopers and other enemy types.
After coming out on nearly a dozen platforms, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is now available for purchase on Nintendo Switch as well.
