Saturday 9 April 2011

THE TRUTH ABOUT POGGLE!


AFICIONADO contributor Ian Trussler recently got in touch with me about an EPISODE II related behind the scenes mystery relating to who played and voiced Poggle the Lesser. Here’s what he has to say:

“There has always been some confusion as to what Australian actor Marton Csokas did in relation to the role of Poggle the Lesser in AOTC. He is not credited on the movie itself but a couple of official publications do mention him in the role (as wel as in pre-production on STARWARS.COM in 2000) and it was generally considered that he did the voice.

This was all thrown into further doubt and confusion when Ben Burtt said in the Sounds of SW book that he used Ernie Foselius (from HARDWARE WARS) as the voice of Poggle by reording him speaking backwards and modifying it.

Well I finally got to the bottom of it when I recently met with Marton Csokas at the theatre where he was performing in TWELFTH NIGHT. Marton, who can also be seen in films like blockbuster movies like XXX, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN and THE BOURNE IDENTITY, told me that he did actually perform the role of Poggle on set in Australia at the FOX STUDIOS with the other actors, much the same as Ahmed Best did for motion capture/reference purposes. He spoke the lines on set but it seems he did not record the dialogue separately.

Therefore it would seem that Marton is the embodiment of Poggle and that Foselius is the voice.

He was a very nice guy and happy to talk about the role, although he personally feels that he doesn't really know what is left of his performance on screen.”


Thanks for getting in touch and clarifying things, Ian…

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