Well how’s this for awkward. Peter Serafinowicz, the original voice of Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace, was invited back to return to the role for Solo: A Star Wars Story under a cloak of secrecy, and as he explains in the video, that was changed at the last moment when the voice of the animated Maul Sam Witwer was brought in late in the day to re-record the role.
This behind-the-scenes story was something we were told last summer at London Film and Comic Con. As explained to us, when the Serafinowicz version of Maul was played back to the team, no one recognised the voice because they were so used to the animated Maul, voiced by Witwer. In order to keep a sense of character continuity, Witwer was brought in to bring the voice of The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels Maul – ironically an impersonation of the Serafinowicz voice from The Phantom Menace – to the big screen.
