SALT LAKE CITY — The "Star Wars" prequels have their issues. Some are more obvious (one might argue Jar Jar Binks) and others are more subtle.
This week, one "Star Wars" viewer noticed a possible error in “The Phantom Menace” that you might have missed if you weren’t paying attention.
The scene’s been pointed out online before but resurfaced on Reddit this week.
Comment from discussion r/StarWars - I just noticed last night that Mace windu is played by another person in this scene.Shortly after Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) mourns the death of Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), the frame changes to a scene with Palpatine walking alongside members of the Jedi Council, including one who at a glance appears to be Mace Windu in his Jedi robes. Only there’s one slight issue: that isn’t Samuel L. Jackson walking with the Council. It’s a Mace Windu stand-in.
According to ComicBook.com, stand-ins are used regularly in large productions to help filmmakers visualize scenes.
It’s likely the stand-in was used for this part of the film because Samuel L. Jackson was unavailable for filming. Or maybe this take was slipped into the film without anyone noticing.
Either way, it’s one more funny thing to pay attention to in the prequel films.