Star War Star Maria De Aragon Has Passed Away
Maria De Aragon, who became a Star Wars legend for her portrayal of Greedo in A New Hope, has passed away. She was 81.
While a relatively small character in the Star Wars franchise, Greedo was immortalized after his duel with Han Solo at the Mos Eisley Cantina. After demanding that Solo pay the money that he owed Jabba the Hut, Greedo was shot and killed by a smuggler.
Photo: StarWars.com
Han Shot First
In the original version of the scene, Han is the only one who fires a blaster, killing Greedo seemingly in cold blood. George Luas would eventually go back and alter the scene for the 1997 Special Edition release of A New Hope. In this version, Greedo shoots first at Han, missing him. Solo then returns fire, killing the bounty hunter.
Lucas’s changes to the scene would launch the “Han shot first” controversy.
Photo: Lucasfilm
“The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in Episode IV, what I did was try to clean up the confusion, but obviously it upset people because they wanted Solo to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn’t. It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom. I put a little wider shot in there that made it clear that Greedo is the one who shot first, but everyone wanted to think that Han shot first, because they wanted to think that he actually just gunned him down,” Lucas told The Hollywood Reporter in 2012.
De Aragon’s Iconic Performance
While Paul Blake initially portrayed Greedo in the first Star Wars film, Geoge Lucas was reportedly not satisfied with the footage. De Aragon then assumed the role of the bounty hunter, shooting close-ups and speaking during the iconic cantina scene.
Photo: Reddit
News of De Aragon’s death was broken by her management company, Coolwaters Productions, who paid tribute to the late actress on Instagram.
“Coolwaters Productions LLC is sad to report that our client Ms. Maria De Aragon, the actress who helped bring the character of Greedo to life in Star Wars: A New Hope has passed away,” the company said in a statement. “Maria is also known for other films such as Teenager, Wonder Women, and The Cremators,” the firm wrote.
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“Maria shot her role as Greedo in Los Angeles, California after the principal photography in London UK was finished and George Lucas was not happy with the way the original footage turned out. The character needed to seem more animated. In the close-ups of Greedo speaking, Maria donned the creature mask, creating the memorable face to face confrontation with Han Solo. Maria has expressed during many Q&A/panels when asked ‘What do you think of Harrison Ford’ she would respond, ‘He kills me’ (with a laugh).”
Photo: IMDB
Outside of her work in Star Wars, De Aragon also appeared in films, including For Those Who Think Young, Nightmare in the Sun, and Love Me Like I Do.
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