Luke Skywalker was raised on Tatooine, like his father before him. Padmé Amidala grew up on Naboo before residing on Coruscant. If you listen to Hawks, the player character in Bit Reactor’s strategy game Star Wars Zero Company, you might think he’s from Texas.
He voiced the male version of Hawks, the leader of the titular Zero Company. Hawks may not actually be from Texas, but that’s where Freeman grew up. His drawl immediately makes Hawks sound unique, and he’s also unique as a Star Wars lead in that his appearance can be fully customized.
Hawks can even be different species, like a Twi'lek or a Mirialan. But, no matter, they’ll all sound Texan. You can go through hundreds of auditions and then one will come along on a cellular level you just sort of get,” Freeman said.
Hawks was a former captain in the Grand Army of the Republic before being scapegoated after a lost battle. He left the Republic to form the mercenary group Zero Company. Some of those great moments and lines were written on the fly.
During one scene, Hawks is infected with the Shadow Plague by Fathom, the game’s big bad, and left worse for wear. Armourer Neesh asks Hawks how he’s feeling, and his original response was something like a very simple, “Not great.” While on set, Freeman had an idea: He told the writers how in Texas, he’d reply with sayings like “I feel hotter than a $2 pistol” or “colder than a witch's teat.” He asked the writers what the Star Wars version of those colloquialisms would be. They come back with three pages of Star Wars versions of that.” Freeman recorded all the new Star Wars colloquialisms in sequence, and the final line ended up being, “It feels like the inside of a mynock’s suckhole, Pops.” It’s a very Star-Wars-meets-Texan thing for Hawks to say, but Hawks’ female counterpart, played by Erica Luttrell, doesn’t have the same Texan drawl.
Though the writing is the same, the differences in Freeman and Luttrell’s performances give Hawks different layers. Freeman recounted a story that he called a “highlight of my career.” At one point, Hawks carries out a mission with Anakin Skywalker and Umbaran soldier Luco Bronc. At the end, after Anakin has taken down a ship and jumped onto a platform, the three of them convene.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
