In April of 2021, I got the opportunity to interview Star Wars actress, singer and vocal coach Michele Gruska. She is famous for her portrayal of Sy Snootles and the ewoks in Return Of The Jedi and collaborations with people such as Barbara Streisand. Below is the full transcript of my full conversation with her, in which she opens up about getting the role in Star Wars, being partially replaced and becoming a professional vocal coach.
How are you doing, Michele?
Alexander
I’m great! How are you doing, considering this world is a little crazy right now? But I’m doing well, I’m doing well.
Michele
All right, that’s very good to know. It’s an honor to have you on board.
Alexander
Thank you so much, it’s an honor being here.
Michele
Thank you for coming. So I have six questions for you today. Okay, let’s hop on to the first question. Alright, so the first question is: could you please tell our viewers and obviously to myself about your general involvement with the Star Wars franchise and how you got the role of singing for Sy Snootles. Obviously, in the end, we had Annie Arbogast do the voice in Return of the Jedi, I believe, whereas you did the soundtrack. So what happened in that whole thing? So could you just give a basic explanation of your Star Wars involvement in general? Thank you.
Alexander
Sure, um, John Williams asked me to come and audition at 20th Century Fox. I went into the studio and they presented this song from the language that they made up. Actually, Joe Williams and John Williams wrote it. I went in there, I gave it a pass I think two times and the next thing I heard from John was: “that was insanely great, it’s yours”! So the next thing I knew, I flew to San Francisco, went to George Lucas town and went into this massive, massive studio with a screen that was bigger than, you know, the outdoor theaters and the drive-ins. It was really massive, it was quite exciting. It was incredible. I was unnerved by the whole thing, to be honest with you, but, you know, they put the Jabba The Hutt scene with the Max Rebo band and Sy Snootles was standing there with the mic and I overdubbed it and it was unequivocally going to be me for the movie. Um, how can I say this, uh…. Miss Arbogast was, at the moment, a very good friend of Mr. Lucas. So, literally, at the very last second they put her voice unbeknownst to me.
Michele
Oh. Oh wow!
Alexander
BUT…. BUT I was still the one on the contract and I also did the soundtrack and I also did the ending. The yub nub song for the ewoks. That was a blast, oh my God, that was incredible. Yeah, it was an extraordinary experience because I was there with Lionel Newman who was 20th Century Fox music supervisor at the time with John Williams and with Joe Williams and, honestly, it was an insane experience. It was a blast, it really was, it was incredible. Just, you know, it turned out the way it turned out, even though literally a second before it was released they decided to put in Miss Arbogast but it was fine and, you know, I didn’t have a problem with that. It is what it is, that’s the industry. But, you know, I was still happy because I was the one contracted.
Michele
But, just to clarify, do I understand correctly that we can still hear you? Well, obviously, we had the special editions replacement but in the Yub Nub song did we still hear you as the ewoks as part of the chorus or could you please clarify, did I understand that correctly?
Alexander
Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I always get, you know, from my peers, they’re always joking, they’re always saying: “I hear you, I hear you”. Yeah, I was a very big part of the last song, the Yub Nub song. (singing) Ewok e yum yum!!! It was great, it was fun. There were six of us and it was incredible. I also did a couple of voices for a couple of ewoks.
Michele
Oh. So not just singing, just in general you did a few voices?
Alexander
Well at the end, yes. It was fabulous, yeah, it was a wonderful, incredible experience to be honest and to be a part of this extraordinary epic franchise is something I…. you can’t explain. You know, at first you don’t realize how extraordinary it really is. Then, as time goes by, you are… I’ve been elated by the whole experience.
Michele
Yes, oh well, I can… I can only imagine how it must have felt, especially since it was already so long ago and Star Wars was only on the rise then, obviously. But it must have been amazing at that time.
Alexander
It really, really was.
Michele
That leads us actually into the second question and that is: so I know that, from what I understand, at least, Richard Marquand was the director of Return of the Jedi. Yet, obviously, Lucas had so much involvement. So my question is: what kind, could you please clarify, do you know what kind of involvement George had, given he wasn’t the director of this one, from what I understand.
Alexander
Well, you know, he wrote and directed (A New Hope). Then the sequel “The Empire Strikes Back” was written by, I think, Lawrence Kasdan and Mr. Lucas, but he was mostly producer and co-writer of both sequels “Empire Strikes Back” and “Return Of the Jedi” and, if I’m not mistaken, I’m trying to think, the director of empire…
Michele
Irvin Kershner, is that correct?
Alexander
That is correct, that is correct, yes, that is correct. He was the director on “The Empire Strikes Back” and then it changed to Richard on “Return of The Jedi”, yes. But George Lucas was involved every step of the way. I mean, when I was at the studio, he was hanging out, you know, up at the top and listening to every single thing all of us did. So he was really involved, as I could see, he was involved from beginning to end. He didn’t take over the directing anymore, but he was producing and co-writing, so yeah, he was still a huge part of it.
Michele
Because that’s something I was always curious about. You know, I was always curious about it because as soon as I learned that he wasn’t the director of episodes five and six, I was always curious. So, obviously, now hearing it from an official member of the cast gives a lot of clarity. But yes, thank you for that. I want to ask the next question. Now the third, and this is a very interesting question, I believe, at least this is the one I’m most curious about hearing from you unbiasedly: because obviously you sang for lapti nek and so on but lapti nek was in the special editions replaced by jedi rocks. I was just curious, unbiasedly speaking, without personal bias more like just the song and the tune and so on, which is your personal preference?
Alexander
It really is unbiased but, honestly, oh my God! Unequivocally the first one. Because the the second one, even though it was cool and that’s what they were probably trying to achieve, I just don’t think it fit. Even though it was a cool idea and they were trying to sort of, you know, update it, it unequivocally didn’t match up like lapti nek did. It just didn’t, it just didn’t. I feel that way, I think many do feel that way, I’ve had many fan letters saying, “oh my gosh why did they do this, why did they replace it” so it’s not my only feeling, it’s quite a few.
Michele
Yeah, well, I do hear many people actually saying that across the internet.
Alexander
I think simply because it just didn’t match the excitement of the fantasy, you know, the fantasy and the sci-fi and it was just so much fun. I think the replacement just lacked luster in reference to fun.
Michele
Well, that’s most definitely a very interesting perspective, especially coming from you, of course, a member of the cast, very interesting. But I do want to ask the following question now: tell us more about your career as a vocal coach. You have had the opportunity to work with many many many talented people so could you please talk more about the kind of people you worked with and in general just every kind of person you work with as a vocal coach and the kind of experiences you’ve had, could you just discuss that?
Alexander
Sure, sure. Actually, before I became a vocal coach, I was doing really nicely in the industry, singing for tv and film and voice overs. Tons of voiceovers, tons of jingles in English and in Spanish and I had a blast, I did a ton of movies and tv and it just so happens that one day a friend of mine said to me: “can you please teach my daughter?”. I said: “No, I’m not a teacher. I can’t teach, I’m a doer, I’m a singer. She said: “yeah, but you’ve got the most incredible voice please can you just teach her what you know?” I said: “Oh my gosh, you know, I don’t know how I’m going to do this because I don’t claim to be a teacher!” She said: “I don’t care, you have to just teach her what you know”. So to make a long story short, I did and, behold, she became a very successful artist and that’s how the ball got rolling and I ended up reinventing myself by accident and I still… I was still doing voiceovers and singing for tv and film. But then it really rolled over into teaching a lot. I ended up at one point with over 40 students a week. It was cuckoo! But yeah, I had the opportunity to teach incredible singers, incredible artists and it really was extremely, still it’s very fulfilling to pass along what I’ve learned from very successful vocal coaches over the last… oh my God! Four decades, it sounds terrifying saying it. But yeah, you know, it’s been a wonderful thing, you know, so I’m very grateful. Really, really grateful because I take ages five to unlimited so, you know, I’ve had a plethora of genres that I’ve taught. Except rap. But it’s been incredible. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it and I’ve really enjoyed, to be honest, watching these beginners turning into these incredibly successful artists, you know, it’s great.
Michele
I’m sure that the people you have taught feel the same way. I’m sure they are very grateful to have had you as their vocal coach.
Alexander
I sure hope so, yes.
Michele
As do I. I believe this is actually the last question now: what was your overall experience when it comes to Star Wars and how do you feel about Sy Snootles becoming such a big part of the lore as many characters do in the franchise.
Alexander
Well, you know, when I was in San Francisco with three of them: Lionel, John and Joe, we had hysterical experiences for a couple of days. I mean, really, it’s in my heart at this point. It was so much fun, an extraordinary learning experience and really set me up for life and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity that was given to me and to seriously be a part of something that is just so legendary… yeah, it’s been with me for life and as years go by, I’ve realized just how lucky I am and how grateful I am. You know, it’s pretty incredible, pretty pretty incredible. In reference to Sy Snootles, I do consider myselfSy Snootles. Even though, and with all due respect to Annie Arbogast, God bless her, you know, good for her that she snuck in and got on there, but, honestly, I really feel like I’m Sy Snootles. Because I did the album, I did an lp with Sy Snootles and it’s just, yeah, it’s been a blast. So I have Sy Snootles in my heart, so I’m sharing her with Annie.
Michele
That’s, that’s fantastic and, I mean, we are all very blessed to have had you as the voice of Sy Snootles in the soundtrack and you being such a big presence. Being such a major vocal coach and so on and I think it’s simply amazing what you have contributed to the star wars franchise, to the star wars brand and I think all of our viewers of the youtube channel will completely agree on that. So we were very very grateful and honored to have had you on board and we look forward to seeing what your career brings you in the future.
Alexander
Yes, thank you so much, this was delightful.
Michele
Oh, you are welcome. It was certainly an incredible experience. Alright, please subscribe to the Oppo Ranscisis youtube channel and this was Michele Gruska here today, our guest. Voice of Sy Snootles in the original Return of the Jedi. Unfortunately, as she mentioned during the interview, she did not make the final cut but she very much was in the album so that is something incredible and, of course, the voice of the ewoks and professional vocal coach. Thank you once more.
Alexander
This was the transcript of the full interview. For the full video/audio version, visit the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrctjZul0zU
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