<Dd> Lucas's decision to cast "unknowns" was not taken favorably by his friend Francis Ford Coppola and the studio . Lucas needed an established actor to play the important Obi - Wan Kenobi character . Producer Gary Kurtz said, "The Alec Guinness role required a certain stability and gravitas as a character...which meant we needed a very, very strong character actor to play that part ." Before Guinness was cast, Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune (who starred in Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress) was considered for the role . According to Mifune's daughter, Mika Kitagawa, her father turned down Lucas' offers for Kenobi and Darth Vader because "he was concerned about how the film would look and that it would cheapen the image of samurai...At the time, sci - fi movies still looked quite cheap as the effects were not advanced and he had a lot of samurai pride ." Guinness was one of the few cast members who believed that the film would be successful; he negotiated a deal for 2% of the one - fifth gross royalties paid to George Lucas, which made him quite wealthy in later life . He agreed to take the part of Kenobi on the condition that he would not have to do any publicity to promote the film . Lucas credited him with inspiring the cast and crew to work harder, saying that Guinness contributed significantly to the completion of the filming . Harrison Ford said, "It was, for me, fascinating to watch Alec Guinness . He was always prepared, always professional, always very kind to the other actors . He had a very clear head about how to serve the story ." </Dd> <Ul> <Li> Anthony Daniels as C - 3PO: a protocol droid who speaks over six million languages . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Anthony Daniels as C - 3PO: a protocol droid who speaks over six million languages . </Li> <Dl> <Dd> Daniels auditioned for and was cast as C - 3PO; he has said that he wanted the role after he saw a Ralph McQuarrie drawing of the character and was struck by the vulnerability in the robot's face . Initially, Lucas did not intend to use Daniels' voice for C - 3PO . Thirty well - established voice actors read for the voice of the droid . According to Daniels, one of the major voice actors, believed by some sources to be Stan Freberg, recommended Daniels's voice for the role . </Dd> </Dl>

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