Matt Lanter & The Rigors Of Mortis

An exciting and revolutionary new view of the Force? Journey with Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Matt Lanter (voice of Anakin Skywalker) to the mysterious planet Mortis in the latest issue of Insider. Here's an extract from the interview...

Star Wars Insider: Do you agree with the decisions Anakin makes? As an actor do you have to justify his actions to yourself?

Matt Lanter: I'm very close to the character. Up until the end, when his emotions get the best of him, Anakin thinks he's on the right path. He thinks the Senate has been corrupted. He thinks the Jedi are corrupt. He believes he's doing the right thing. Even at that point he believes that. At this point, he is brash and he does go after the enemy rather than take care of the wounded. I can empathise with Anakin, yes. He makes some brash decisions, but you can't always go by the book. Sometimes you've just got to get it done.

What appeals to you most about the character?

Anakin is probably one of the most complex characters in science fiction history. Right now he's the fun-loving charming hero that every boy looks up to. It's a lot of fun to play those dark moments, because that makes the character very human. To play both aspects is a dream job - being part of Star Wars and voicing Anakin. The saga is all about Anakin and Darth Vader!

When you signed up did you realize you'd be doing these kind of episodes? Did you expect anything like the Mortis episodes?

I had no idea the show was going to be this huge, worldwide. When I auditioned, we didn't know anything. It was very secretive. I didn't even know exactly what I was reading for! We've got such a talented writing team and animation team, and George obviously tells some fantastic stories, so nothing surprises me. Something as big as this reveal, though, did shock me when I read the script. It really changes your perception of something as big as the Force, how you see it through all six films. That's when I think The Clone Wars is at its best, when it reveals something, or changes something, or really adds to how we see the films. That's when we know we're doing a good job, when we fit right in and we're changing the way things are thought about. That's what the prequels did for the original trilogy - it changed the way we saw things in the original trilogy completely. That's what The Clone Wars is doing. It's pretty incredible.