This Oscar-winning Hollywood icon, known for his remarkable career, wasn’t particularly fond of the role that would ultimately define his legacy – a performance that earned him an astonishing $95 million for just a few days of work. Earned.
Imagine receiving $95 million for a role with only 20 minutes of screen time. While most actors would jump at such an opportunity, this actor from nearly 50 years ago found the experience so disappointing that he almost rejected the sequel, and only agreed to return out of loyalty to the director. This is the story of a reluctant pop culture legend.
By the mid-1970s, British actor Alec Guinness had established himself as a cinematic powerhouse with acclaimed performances in films such as Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Man in the White Suit, The Lavender Hill Mob and Great Expectations . His performance in Bridge on the River Kwai won him an Academy Award for Best Actor, followed by notable roles in Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago. Despite his reputation, when George Lucas approached him to play a wise mentor in a space adventure, Guinness asked for $300,000 – double the original offer – and 2% of the film’s backend profits, Lucas sweetened the deal by adding an additional 0.25%.
The film was Star Wars, and Guinness was cast as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Although her screen time in the film was brief, the role became a global phenomenon and eclipsed the rest of her illustrious career. Thanks to its profit-sharing deal, Guinness earned an astonishing $95 million, while the franchise has raked in billions over the decades.
Alec Guinness and his early disdain for Star Wars
As The Hollywood Reporter reports, Guinness was not impressed with Star Wars from the beginning. He viewed the script as “fairy tale nonsense” and only accepted the role for the lucrative pay. His personal accounts reveal that he found the project a “dull bullshit thing” and had no interest in revisiting the character.
However, after the great success of the film, Guinness felt indebted to George Lucas and agreed to join The Empire Strikes Back to complete Obi-Wan’s story. Reflecting on his decision, he wrote in his diary: “I said yes to a day’s work on Star Wars II… It’s a dull nonsense thing, but, considering what I owe George Lucas , after all I didn’t have the heart to refuse.” The character of Obi-Wan died in the sequel, but continued to appear in subsequent Star Wars projects, portrayed by Ewan McGregor in the prequels and later Repeated in the Disney+ series Kenobi.
Ironically, Guinness’s limited appearances earned him significantly more than McGregor’s extended involvement in the franchise, highlighting the actor’s enduring legacy as the face of an iconic character he never fully embraced. .