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Few speaking voices are as singularly iconic as James Earl Jones’ deep, resonant bass.
The actor, who died this week at 93 years old, was made iconic as the voice of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy.
He then went on to give another memorable voice-acting performance as Mufasa in Disney’s The Lion King.
Even though the actor has died, his beloved voice may just continue to live on through the power of AI.
The mini series Obi-Wan Kenobi, which premiered in the summer of 2022, featured Jones’ voice – but some fans noticed something about his performance seemed strange.
It was soon revealed that Jones had signed over the rights to his voice to a Ukrainian startup called Respeecher.
The company used A.I. and Jones’ archival work to create brand new content in the actor’s voice, essentially ‘cloning’ his voice.
Fans have mixed feelings on the technological advancement, with some thinking it dishonours Jones’ legacy to insert his voice into projects posthumously.
