7 Star Wars Actors Who Quit

Terence Stamp was an undeniably brilliant get for the The Phantom Menace, even if his acting talents were largely wasted on the relatively unremarkable character of Chancellor Finis Valorum, who is eventually kicked out of the Senate and replaced with Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid).

In the years since the film's release, Stamp has minced no words at all about his displeasure shooting his few scenes, citing George Lucas' disappointing lack of interest in performance over the movie's cutting edge visual effects. Stamp said in an interview with Empire:

"We didn't get on at all... I didn't rate him that much as a director, really. I didn't feel like he was a director of actors; he was more interested in stuff and effects. He didn't interest me and I wouldn't think I interested him... I came all the way back from Australia to do it. I didn't want to but my agent leaned on me and I wanted to meet Natalie Portman because I'd seen her in [Leon]. And I did meet her and she was absolutely enchanting. But on the day I'm supposed to do my scene with her, for which I'd travelled halfway around the world, I said, 'Where's Natalie?' And George says, 'That's Natalie,' and points to a bit of paper on the wall. It was just boring."

Stamp added that he also wasn't well compensated for his role in the $115 million tentpole, and when he agreed to come back for a day of reshoots in exchange for a gift, Lucas ended up giving him... Star Wars stencils.

As such, Stamp elected not to reprise his role for either of the prequel films that followed, ditching a franchise that evidently didn't have much interesting work for him anyway.