Originally named simply Star Wars, the movie was retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope when the franchise was relaunched with prequels ten years ago. The film borrowed key plot points from ancient Greek and Roman hero myths, threw in some Medieval story devices, and turned the science fiction/action genre on its head. Luke Skywalker, an average farm boy who loves to race space ships, discovers that there is much more to his simple life than he thought when he finds a droid with a distress call from a princess saved to its memory. And so begins the biggest adventure of his life, and one of the biggest adventures in cinema history. Star Wars has launched its sequels (and prequels), a book series, an animated television show, and countless parodies and homages. It has become firmly lodged in our pop culture. Even if you've never seen the films, you've heard of it, and probably know most of the story already. And despite the limited technology the original movie had to work with for special effects, it is timeless.

Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker
Mark has had an incredibly lucrative career since his first Star Wars film. He's produced, he's directed, he's even appeared on a few soundtrack albums. And then, there's his acting projects. Since the first Star Wars film was released in 1977 (his roles in the movies ended with the release of Return of the Jedi in 1983), he has appeared in more than 180 projects on screen. (Of course, most of those are only his voice, but that can still be quite a bit of work.) He's also dabbled in plays on Broadway and filmed several commercials. Now, a lot of his work in the 80s and 90s was for films and television shows that haven't exactly had a lasting impression on pop culture, but his voiceover work is everywhere. He voiced a character in the miniseries Red Dawn, has provided his voice for several different animated incarnations of Batman's Joker, the Hobgoblin in one of the animated versions of Spider-Man, and even did a few different characters for the revamped Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. He's also lent his talents to dozens of video games. In fact, all but one of his upcoming projects are voiceover roles, which is probably good for him. With all of his voiceover work over the years, he probably had a lot more time to spend with his family. He married not long after the debut of the first Star Wars film, and he and his wife have three children.

Carrie Fischer as Princess Leia
Much like her Star Wars costar, Carrie has tried a little bit of everything when it comes to the performing arts. She's appeared on a few soundtracks of projects she's worked on, she's a screenwriter, and she's also acted on the Broadway stage. Star Wars was one of her first acting jobs on screen though, and she's followed it up with 70 more projects, including voiceover work for animated series and video games. She played the best friend of title character Sally in one of the most well known romantic comedies of all time, When Harry Met Sally. Since the 1989 movie, she's done a good job at mixing up her roles with different genres and different sized roles. She's also not afraid to make fun of herself. A couple of her roles have involved her spoofing her own Princess Leia. Her brief appearance in horror movie Scream 3 had her playing a Hollywood archivist who auditioned for the role, but lost out to someone who looked just like her. In recent years, her roles have ranged from the dramatic in The Women, to comedic voice work in the series Family Guy. She has a couple of projects in development for the next year as well, but so far, none of the details are available to the public.

Harrison Ford as Han Solo
Harrison followed up one of the biggest sci-fi franchises of all time with a role in one of the biggest adventure franchises of all time: The Indiana Jones films. And though he's since made a career as an action hero in films like Blade Runner, Patriot Games, and The Fugitive, he's also managed to balance out those roles with some romantic comedies. Harrison was one of the stars of the eighties film Working Girl, as well as the remake of the classic Sabrina. He even tried his hand at a psychological thriller with What Lies Beneath in 2000. In more recent years, he's made a return to the action genre, and he's got two more action films lined up for release, including the highly anticipated Cowboys and Aliens. There's even a possibility of another Indiana Jones adventure in the future. On a personal scale, Harrison recently married actress Calista Flockhart, and shares custody of her adopted son.

Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
Though Anthony starred as a droid in the George Lucas film, he's also a great British character actor. Of course, his human roles have been few and far between since his debut as the golden android who was intent on proper protocol. Outside of a recurring spot in several made for television movie serials, he hasn't had many long term projects. Instead, he is the one member of the original trilogy who is still acting as the same character more than 30 years later. He voices C-3PO in video games and in animated series every time a new program is created. (In fact, he even wrote one of the video games featuring his character.) And he still attends most of the major science fiction conventions all over the world. He's even been the guest of honor at a few over the last ten years.

Kenny Baker as R2-D2
He and Anthony Daniels are the only actors in the Star Wars franchise to play their characters in all six of the major motion pictures. Unlike Anthony though, his voice wasn't used in any of the animated series since R2 only speaks in a sequence of electronic beeps. Because of Kenny's small stature (He has a form of dwarfism and stands at only 3 feet 8 inches, or 1.12 meters), he is frequently cast in the roles of elves, dwarfs, goblins, and other mythical creatures known for being smaller than the average human. He's also toured in his own stand up comedy show, and he still lives in his native England. Though he is semi retired, only taking on roles every couple of years now, he does have a role coming up in a 2011 horror film as a Professor.

Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca
Though Peter hasn't done a ton of acting since his first appearance onscreen as Chewbacca in 1977, that isn't all that surprising given his history. The English native was actually working as a hospital orderly when he was first approached at playing a part in another film. His height made him stand out to the then producer, and that role led to Star Wars, which has been very good to him. After the first three films finished, he continued to make appearances as the Wookie for both commercials, and on television talk shows. He's also become a regular on the science fiction convention circuit, always willing to sign autographs for fans. In his free time, he tends toward more solitary hobbies, like woodworking. He now lives in Texas with his wife, and has two films slated for release in the next year, one of which has him donning the Wookie costume again.

David Prowse as Darth Vader
The bulk of David's career occurred long before his days as the super villain Darth Vader. He actually worked as Christopher Reeve's personal trainer for the first of the Super Man films, and was a spokesman for road safety throughout England for a large portion of his career. He's had a significantly smaller number of roles since playing Darth Vader, but like most of his costars, he's always willing to attend conventions to talk with the fans about his experiences on the films and sign autographs. And though he might be best known for playing the man behind the mask, he maintains that his most rewarding role is that of the Green Cross Code man, the character used to teach UK children about road safety. He even received an M.B.E. (Member of the Order of the British Empire) from the Queen in 2000 for his commitment to charity and safety. He currently lives in England with his wife of more than forty years.

James Earl Jones as the voice of Darth Vader
Partly because of voicing Darth Vader, but mostly because you just can't help noticing, James has one of the most recognizable voices of the last 100 years. He's narrated live action films, voiced animated characters, and he stars in anything that interests him from the campy comedies to the Oscar winning dramas. With a career that spans almost 50 years, he pretty much has his pick of roles nowadays. That doesn't stop him from having some fun with his roles though. He's done the voice of Mufasa in Disney's Lion King, voiced a few different characters on The Simpsons, and even played himself on sitcoms like Will and Grace and Two and a Half Men. James also enjoys doing commercials and acting on the stage. He's even making a return to Star Wars by voicing Darth Vader again in a 2011 project.