Sad news arrives as Barrie Holland, the actor behind Lieutenant Renz in Return of the Jedi who famously told Han Solo he was ‘rebel scum’, has passed away. He also appeared in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and 14 years ago we had the good fortune to chat with Barrie, who regaled us with stories of his fascinating career.
FT – Lieutenant Renz was for many years an unknown character, but lately he’s become quite infamous, and his classic line – “You Rebel scum!” – has passed into common Star Wars fan usage. Did you have any idea back in 1982 when you filmed your scenes that the character would be such a large part of your life?
BH – It is very interesting how my line “You Rebel Scum!” has passed into Star Wars folklore. I never expected that at the time of filming all those years ago in 1982. There was a lot of work around in those days and it was a very busy year for me. It was great fun to do but was just another job at the time, remember I had three young children to support, so the more work the better. I guess it turned out years later lucky for me to have been in the ‘Right place at the right time!’ It was a very complicated scene to do and took one and a half days of continuous filming from various angles. I had seven Stormtroopers with me at the time although you never see seven in the final cut ever. I have a master shot which you will never see published in any book and shows all seven at the time. George Lucas very kindly arranged for me to get several pictures of the scene after I had spoken to him personally on the set of ‘Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom‘ the following year in 1983. These photos were all taken by Keith Hamshere the Stills Photographer at the time of filming. They are my personal favourites of all the pictures I have of that sequence.
During the very first rehearsal of the scene Harrison Ford said to me “What did you call me?” and playfully slapped my face lightly. As I said earlier it was great fun to do. I had a timing light and we all had specific positions on the set to get to, so every,one of the Stormtroopers was relying on me to get it right. If I got there too early my gun was in his back and if I got there too late he turned into empty air. Great fun! I suppose as a bit of movie trivia I have held a gun on Harrison Ford more than any other actor in all of his action films. Ha! ha!
To his family, colleagues and fiends, our sincerest condolences.
