‘His Arms Are CG’: How Star Wars Overcame Christopher Lee’s Health Problems

This is an impressive anecdote about Christopher Lee, who played an unforgettable role as the famous Count Dooku in George Lucas’ Star Wars prequel. According to Nick Gillard, choreographer of the prequel trilogies and Light duels in Revenge of the Sith, Christopher Leewhich was “One of the greatest swordsmen of all time“Unfortunately, they handed it over Nick Gillard A doctor’s note stating that he was no longer allowed to raise his arms above the elbow due to a blood or heart problem. We remind you that when the film was released in 2005, the actor was already 83 years old. He died 10 years later, in 2015, at the age of 93.

However, at this stage, Nick Gillard He had already completely shot the duel between Anakin (Hayden Christensen) and Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) on one side and Count Dooku at the beginning of the film, and so he had to rethink everything with the health of the state in mind. Christopher Lee.

“I went to Giorgi and said, what do you want to do? He said, “We have to change the struggle.” And it was a very good fight.“

That’s when John Knoll and Rob Coleman of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), the world’s top CGI animators Nick GillardThey decided to take matters into their own hands:They said, “We want to do it. We think maybe we can get his gun and sword.“

Therefore, during this duel, Christopher Lee He barely moves and his arms and lightsaber are fully animated.

“So, in the end, during the battles in Revenge of the Sith, he didn’t move at all. He was moving like this and his hands and lightsaber are CG“, it was revealed Nick Gillard. And the result is just perfect – as you can see in the video below:

Impressive, right?

The Star Wars Prologue, as well as the entire saga, can be seen on Disney+.

Also listen to Nick Gillard in his interview below: