GeekDad had the chance to chat with a number of awesome Star Wars–related celebrities at the recent Star Wars Celebration VI. We asked each of them the same "Five Force-Full Questions" about growing up as fans and sharing the saga with the next generation, and we’ll share their answers here.
Matt Lanter was less than two months old when Return of the Jedi was released in 1983 and grew up in the era when Star Wars had largely faded from the public consciousness. Almost three decades later, he has now spent four years playing the role of pre-fall, pre-redemption Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Booth: What's your favorite Star Wars movie and why?
Lanter: Oh, man. A lot of people might gawk at it, but I really love Revenge of the Sith because of what happens to Anakin. I think I watched the prequels before I watched the originals, so maybe that was more of my childhood than the originals were. And it's really an emotional movie: huge events happening; the turn and fall of all that is good. I dig that one. But I also love Jedi, and I love Empire. So ... (laughing) half of them are my favorites.
Booth: What do you remember most strongly about the first time you saw Star Wars?
Lanter: I was never really influenced by anyone around me with it. I was maybe 12 or 13 or 14 and decided to watch a couple of them in my room. My first memories of it are just watching it in my room as a fun popcorn movie.
Booth: What was the best Star Wars toy you ever had and why?
Lanter: I'm definitely one of those fans that has really learned most of my stuff in the last seven years. I knew the central characters - everybody knows Han Solo and Princess Leia and Darth Vader - but I never really grew up with that.
Booth: The next generation: What's the plan for introducing kids to Star Wars?
Lanter: I have nieces and nephews. My nephews are three and a half, and they know Anakin - who they call "Uncle Matt." My sister had the wall stickers, when they were babes, in their room, so they were born with that influence. My nieces came out here to Celebration ... and they just had a blast. That's what The Clone Wars is doing for kids and the new generation. It's a family thing, and it reminds you of being a kid.
Booth: Why are we still talking about this movie 35 years after its initial release?
Lanter: It's all that is great in storytelling: It's got super heroes, it's got flying, you're in space, and there's cool monsters and creatures. From a storytelling standpoint, George (Lucas) really knew what he was doing. He's got the action, he's got romance, he's got good versus evil. You get all these different creative worlds and detailed species and languages, and it's just so vast, and I think that's why we can all just lose ourselves in it. Your imagination just runs wild.
Season 5 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars premieres at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, on Cartoon Network.
Check out the other responses to our Five Force-Full Questions.
