'Star Wars' Actor Peter Serafinowicz Slams George Lucas Over Low Salary Payout and Calls the Series the 'Biggest Disappointment of My Life'

It's been over 25 years since Star Wars' polarizing prequel trilogy, but to this day fans continue to furiously debate about the quality of George Lucas's Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

While some viewers hold a largely positive view of the trilogy, one person who is not a fan of the series is prequels actor Peter Serafinowicz.

Appearing on a recent episode of the Classic Clown podcast, Serafinowicz reminisced about his brief role as the voice of the iconic Star Warsvillain Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace, a character who was physically played by Ray Park in the films.

"It was weird. This character Darth Maul… I don't know what I thought," Serafinowicz revealed. "The design of it… I wasn't that into it. When I saw the film it was the biggest disappointment of my life at that point. It really was. I mean, have you seen it? It was so exciting that even being in it... doing this thing, what I thought would be this iconic thing. Just unimaginable."

Despite his initial excitement for the project, Serafinowicz ultimately left the series far more disillusioned than he initially thought, thanks in large part to the weaker reception of the film compared to the originals, Maul's unexpected death in the movie's climax and his overall low salary from George Lucas.

"James Earl Jones has got the best voice of any human ever, right?" the actor continued. "Then, suddenly there I was with George Lucas, and he was like saying, ‘Well, Peter, you're the new James Earl Jones,' and I was like, ‘F**king hell, am I? Then why are you paying me such s**t money, George?"

Serafinowicz's tenure in the Star Wars franchise would be largely fleeting, with the actor contributing only a handful of lines in The Phantom Menace. Though he did record Maul's dialogue in Solo: A Star Wars Story, the studio would end up using actor Star Wars: The Clone Wars actor Sam Witwer's recordings instead.

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This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 6:51 AM.