By George & Josh Bate
Fresh off his role in the hit Apple TV series Widow’s Bay, Matthew Rhys will soon make a trip to a galaxy far, far away by bringing new life to one of Star Wars‘ most iconic characters.
Welsh language broadcaster S4C and Creative Wales announced today that the original Star Wars will be dubbed for the very first time in Welsh and broadcast on S4C and its platforms from Christmas Day onward.
Matthew Rhys (Widow’s Bay, The Americans) will voice Han Solo. Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) will voice Ben Kenobi. Aimee Ffion-Edwards (Peaky Blinders, Slow Horses) will voice Princess Leia.
Mark Lewis Jones, who played Captain Moden Canady in The Last Jedi, will return to the franchise as the voice of Darth Vader.
Meanwhile, Osian Morgan (Emmerdale, Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards) will voice Luke Skywalker.
Titled Star Wars: Gobaith Newydd, the Welsh dub is directed by Ellyn Stern and produced by Michael Kohn of Lucasfilm.
Lucasfilm co-president Lynwen Brennan, who was born and raised in Wales, spoke about how proud she is that Star Wars is finally being translated into Welsh. “We have never before had a translation of Star Wars into Welsh and I am so thankful that in celebration of our 50th anniversary, we have been able to work with some incredible Welsh talent to make that a reality,” Brennan said. “Welsh speakers will finally be able to enjoy the film in our native language and my hope is that it will have the same emotional impact as if you were watching the film again for the first time.”