From the moment Darth Maul ignited his double-bladed lightsaber in The Phantom Menace, he became one of the most unforgettable characters in Star Wars.

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A core childhood memory for me is sitting in the theater, watching Maul battle Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, completely awestruck. Years later, I was elated to see Maul return in Clone Wars, then Rebels, and now in Shadow Lord.

Star Wars fans were introduced to Sam Witwer in 2008’s The Force Unleashed, where he delivered a career-defining performance as Starkiller. Sam brought a rare intensity to Starkiller, and now to Maul, with Shadow Lord painting the iconic Zabrak in a whole new light.

Sam is truly one of the most genuine, fun people to chat with, and I knew it would be a great conversation when he saw my Shadow Lord Zoom background and said, “You gotta watch out — Maul’s right behind you!”

It was a true honor to hear from Sam about what he’s most excited for in Shadow Lord, and Maul’s evolution into one of Star Wars’ most complex villains.

Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity, and is spoiler-free — but does discuss some plot points of the first two episodes at a very high level.

When you heard about Shadow Lord, what excited you the most about returning as Maul?

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Sam: At first, I was thinking, “How are we going to do that?” I don’t think anyone had a taste for making a show about a guy just doing awful things to people. That’s a little bit of a bummer. But when I thought about it, I was like, “There’s absolutely potential for Maul to be filled with internal conflict that would be suitably dramatic.”

When I saw [developer] Matt Michnovetz’s scripts, it suddenly became clear to me. We also have all these other wonderful characters that just fill across the entire moral spectrum — so, yes, we could make a Star Wars show where one of the points of view is, in fact, Darth Maul.

It’s easy to say, “Let’s do a Darth Maul show.” It’s difficult executing that and making a show that George [Lucas] might be proud of, or that Dave [Filoni] would accept.

Thankfully, Dave had a very clear vision for how this would go. [Director] Brad [Rau]’s execution has been spectacular. He’s an extraordinary filmmaker. Matt’s scripts have been a roller coaster ride of energy and excitement and conflict, and then we have [producer] Athena Portillo, who’s like our general. It’s an incredible group.

You portray Maul with such depth and emotion. How do you get into his headspace?

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Sam: I know Maul pretty well, but I have to admit that it took a little while to figure out how to play him in Shadow Lord. It took a second because it couldn’t be exactly the same as Clone Wars Maul or Rebels Maul. You’re always creating a new version of the character.

It’s about making sure that these moments are truthful and surprising. It really helps when you have an actor like Gideon [Adlon, who voices Devon] opposite you — constantly surprising you with these wonderful performances, these wonderful emotional releases that spur you on to surprise yourself with what the character says.

Maul is such a complex character. I’d love to hear your analysis — how does he view himself coming into Shadow Lord?

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Sam: Maul views everything that he’s doing as entirely necessary and perhaps the only rational thing to do. The problem is that he’s been raised by the Emperor — that’s who gave him his moral code, who gave him the tools he uses to deal with the world.

Maul sees himself, I believe, as a potential liberator for the galaxy. However, the first thing he must do in order to liberate the galaxy is kill a bunch of people. For Maul, that was built into his upbringing. The Emperor taught him that if ever anyone crosses you in any way, their demise must be very public so that no one thinks they could try that on you.

If you’re going to do a story about Maul, the beginning of the Galactic Empire is the time to do it. At this point, Maul understands that Sidious is the source of not only his suffering, but the suffering of the entire galaxy. Everywhere he looks, he sees the Emperor’s hand. If there were ever some rebellious urges inside Maul, this is the time.

And to make matters more complex for Maul, another key character in Shadow Lord is Devon.

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Sam: That’s right. Coming out of the war, Maul has had many people abandon him. As he’s putting his crew back together, he meets someone that reminds him very much of himself at a young age — and that is the key relationship for him throughout this series.

He knows how to talk to her, because this is what he would have said to himself. These are the concerns that he had. He was trained to be a Sith, but never got to be a Sith. She was trained to be a Jedi, but never got to be a Jedi. So he knows exactly what to say.

The thing is, that understanding goes both ways. How do you build a connection with someone when you don’t know what that looks like?

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Sam: At one point in his life, Maul had loyalty with his brother, Savage Opress. He had the rarest thing in the galaxy, a dark sider who was actually unfailingly loyal. Maul understands at this point that he took that for granted.

This is a changed Maul. This is a guy who is questioning everything about his life, even so far as to re-evaluate his stance on what the Jedi were. He looks at them now and thinks, “Pretty remarkable institution. Extraordinary, in fact. They are not my equal — but they could have made a difference if they had the determination and the guts to do what must be done.”

That last part — that’s his master’s thinking, even if Maul does not realize it. Sidious made such an impression on him. Maul cannot help but use the tools that Sidious gave him.

That’s such a fascinating way to look at him!

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Sam: I talk about Star Wars lore a lot, and it’s really fun — but I want to stress that if you’re a fan who knows nothing about Star Wars, this show is for you. If you’re a fan who knows nothing about Darth Maul, this show is for you. We have taken great pains to make sure that this show completely makes sense to you, even if it is your first Star Wars show.

As Matt Michnovetz says, “It’s a roller coaster ride. It goes up the hill, and then you’re off to the races, and everything goes crazy.”

As a voice actor, Maul does a lot of screaming. What is the most vocally challenging part of portraying him?

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Sam: Oh, heaven forbid he gets hurt, because that guy can scream. Speaking as Maul is not terribly vocally stressful, but the combat, the fighting, the injuries can be.

One of the wonderful things about this show is that it takes place over seven days. All the characters get worn down, either physically, emotionally, or psychologically, so the later episodes were definitely vocally strenuous.

What are you excited for fans to see in the world of Shadow Lord?

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Sam: One of the brilliant things that Dave Filoni has done is to populate the world around Maul with other characters. This is very much also Devon’s story — she’s really the Luke or Ahsoka of this piece.

Then you have Charlie Bushnell playing Riley, a high schooler, which is great. Chris Diamantopoulos is a star as Vario. Richard [Ayoade] has amazing comedic timing as Two Boots. Wagner [Moura]’s Lawson grounds the entire show with such gravitas. Dennis Haysbert as Daki gives a great counterpoint to Maul’s philosophy.

But I gotta say, Gideon — she’s Star Wars gold. She is the real deal. She is so incredible at what she does, such a surprising, unleashed actor, and she just gives me so much energy when we play those scenes together.

Speaking of the word unleashed, I grew up a big fan of The Force Unleashed. Did anything from your time as Starkiller influence how you approach Maul?

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Sam: We always conceived of Starkiller as partially a Darth-Maul-type character, though I had no clue I was going to end up playing Maul later. Starkiller is the reason I’m in Star Wars, and it’s all because my buddy, David Collins, took my headshot and he snuck it into the audition pile.

David was the lead sound on Force Unleashed, and he commits this act of sabotage (laughs). I get an audition, and I get hired. Months later, we’re shooting, but we didn’t have the character of PROXY cast. They were going to cast a comedian or a celebrity, but David was filling in, and David was hitting all the right beats. The performance was not only heartfelt and beautiful, but it was also really funny.

We went to [project lead] Haden Blackman, and we’re like, “You’re just gonna direct whoever you hire to do what David is already doing. So why not just give it to David?”

Fast forward almost 20 years, and David Collins is the lead sound on Shadow Lord. Dave Filoni, who knows all the Lucasfilm lore, goes, “I want David Collins to play Sam’s sidekick in this.” That’s where we get Maul’s droid, Spybot. He’s one of my favorite Star Wars characters — kind of a jerk of a droid, but also hilarious and kind of lovable at the same time.

This was so much fun, but my final question for you — who would win in a fight, Maul or Starkiller?

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Sam: Who would win in a fight, Maul or Starkiller? (Laughs) I would win in that fight. I would win big. I’ve continued to win big now for almost 20 years.

I am very, very grateful for this extraordinary ride with Lucasfilm, and very excited about Dave stepping to the fore. Dave is George’s Padawan. He knows Star Wars better than anyone I’ve ever met. This show was so ambitious, and it’s just a tremendous team — the best people in the world.