Hear Chewbacca Speak English In Found Empire Strikes Back Outtake

CBR

By Rob Cave

Published Nov 8, 2016

Even in Peter Mayhew's West London accent, Chewie still sounds annoyed enough to pull someone's arm off.

Dedicated "Star Wars" fans know that Chewbacca was given his great height by British actor Peter Mayhew, but like fellow countryman David Prowse, who played Darth Vader in the original trilogy, his natural voice was never heard in the finished film.

But now Mayhew has posted some new footage from "The Empire Strikes Back" on his twitter account in which the actor, dressed as his Wookiee alter ego, converses with Harrison Ford's Han Solo, delivering his lines in English instead of his character's native Shyriiwook language.

Wonderful bit of stuff from @jamieswb!! pic.twitter.com/oObW8Cll2f— Peter Mayhew (@TheWookieeRoars) November 5, 2016

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the footage was apparently discovered by documentary maker Jamie Benning, who shared it with Mayhew.

While the image quality is far from perfect, it is exciting -- and quite jarring -- to hear Chewbacca asking his best friend "where the 'ell 'ave you been?" in a West London accent.

Peter Mayhew appeared as Chewbacca in all three films in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, later reprising his role in both 2005's "Revenge of the Sith" and 2015's "The Force Awakens" but the actor is not set to appear in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," the latest tale in the franchise set "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."

The next Star Wars film, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker and arrives in UK theaters on December 15 and in North America on December 16.