Christian Bale must be enjoying playing big bads (and letting people know what roles he would like to play in the future). The actor, who recently appeared as Gorr the God Butcher in Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder and is playing Burt in the upcoming film Amsterdam, wants to return as a villain in another Disney-owned property: Star Wars.
The actor said in a recent interview that he could be persuaded to join Star Wars. However, only if he could continue the work of the ‘Stormtrooper Fail’ stormtrooper, a fan-favorite background character who is seen banging his head on a doorframe in a Star Wars: A New Hope scene (too many mind tricks will do that to a person, remember From a Certain Point of View?)
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When interviewing Bale about his work on the upcoming films Amsterdam and The Pale Blue Eye, The Hollywood Reporter’s Brian Davids asked Bale, who has made the same joke (?) in the past, if he still had a desire to make Star Wars someday. The actor responded:
It’s quite possible this stormtrooper ran into a Jedi (or Darth Vader) on his way into his duty shift that fateful day. He ran into a wall because now he has the brain scramblies. Could a limited series about Jedi mind trick be in Bale’s future?
All I ever wanted in Star Wars was to be in a Star Wars outfit and hit my head on a door or something as I walked through. The real nerds who watched Star Wars way too many times always knew about that one scene where the Stormtrooper hits his head on the door as he comes through. I wanted to be that guy. That was it. But look, if I’m fortunate enough to be more than that, oh man, yeah. What a delight that would be. I’ve still got the figures from when I was little. I also know Kathy Kennedy very well because she was working with Spielberg when I did Empire of the Sun, and now, she runs the Star Wars universe.
How ‘Stormtrooper Fail’ Happened
Lucasfilm
On A New Hope’s 40th anniversary, THR tracked down the actor who banged his head when he walked out of the control room: Laurie Goode, who was 31 during production (although one other actor claims to be the stormtrooper in question, per Goode in the THR interview).
According to Goode, the actor was as surprised as anyone that George Lucas decided to use the take where he hit his head on the doorway, telling THR that they recorded at least four takes. The U.K.-based actor told THR that the accident happened because he wasn’t feeling well that morning, saying:
Watch the scene for yourself below:
On the second day of filming, I developed an upset stomach. By midmorning I had paid three to four visits to the loo/bathroom. Having re-dressed myself and returned to the set, I felt the need to rush back to the gents’ toilets, but I was placed in [the] shot. On about the fourth take, as I shuffled along, I felt my stomach rumbling, and “bang,” I hit my head! As I wasn’t moving too fast, it was more of a scuffed bash, so it didn’t hurt, but as no one shouted “cut,” I thought the shot wasn’t wide enough for me to be in the frame.