Have you always been a fan of the "Star Wars" films?

Oh, yeah. Always. I think it's a modern-day myth that's been created in our lifetimes, that we've shared and enjoyed with George [Lucas] as he created it. It's taken on the proportions of the Greek myths that we had to learn when we were kids. But this is ours. Now we're watching the development of how it all started. We care about it and we want to know the information. And it's been a great generational transition. The good thing about the "Star Wars" films to me is that if a person's feeling bad - or even those people lined up waiting months for a ticket - if they can come out feeling better, then it's all been better. That's what movies are for. To make people feel better.

The romance in "Episode II" between Padmé and Anakin is seen by some as an attempt to lure teenage girls to the film. Do you think "Star Wars" has always been a male phenomenon?

I think it's pretty universal. I know a lot of girls that like the drama, and women that went to see it when they were younger. They're taking their kids to see it now. There's always been the female element... Princess Leia, and now you have the Queen. Girls look at stuff like that. They like their dolls, too.

Why were you chosen to play the Jedi Mace Windu?

I don't know why George chose that particular character for me. I actually told him I'd be a stormtrooper, as long as I knew I was in the movie and I didn't care if anybody else knew. I'm not sure. I guess, quiet strength is something my characters tend to have. Some of it's loud strength, though. I think that being able to do that in various forms - Jules [from "Pulp Fiction"] is very wise, Ordell [from "Jackie Brown"] is wise, Mace Windu is wise, Zeus [from "Die Hard With a Vengeance"] is wise. But they're all very different.

Has the character developed as you'd have liked?

Sure. In terms of who Mace Windu is and what his responsibilities are in relation to the story, I'm quite pleased with what's happened. And proud to have been given the responsibility of dispensing that kind of information, and having the sort of stature in the films that I never imagined having. I think I have a lot of responsibility to fans, like myself, of the genre and the saga to do things that are in context with what we feel are heroic and indicative of what those characters should be within that story.