Interview with John Morton, Star Wars Actor

This issue we have the privilege to publish an interview with John Morton, aka Dak Ralter, Luke’s rear gunner in the Battle Of Hoth.

John Morton is best known for his supporting role as Dak Ralter in The Empire Strikes Back. His character manned the harpoon and tow cables while Luke Skywalker flew rings around the large ‘Snow Walkers’ with the skill of a farm boy bulls-eyeing womprats back at Beggars Canyon.
 
RebelPilot catches up with John’s 20 years after ESB and finds out important details like what a Taun Taun is likely to smell on the outside.
 
Interview with John Morton
 
RebelPilot: What's your current job?

John Morton: Conference Director (see www.afji.com/conferences). I also write scripts for commercial videos, have had two plays produced and now circulating a play with music titled Dylan Plays Vegas which has been with Emmy Lou Harris for some time to see if she is interested in taking the lead role.

RebelPilot: How did you get into acting and how did you score the part in The Empire Strikes Back?

John Morton: Acted in school and college.  Was in London in early 70s working with lighting crew at Rocky Horror Show and playing floor spots at pubs as guitarist.  Got discovered and cast in a musical which transferred to West End and led to being cast as Robert Redford's chaplain in A Bridge Too Far and I was off and running.  TESB was one of eight films in which I was cast.
 
RebelPilot: You've got a military background. In your professional opinion do you think the x-wing had a design flaw in not including a rear mounted laser cannon?

John Morton: Agreed.  A rear mounted laser cannon with something like an automatic target recognition (ATR) capability with identification friend or foe (IFF) would go a long way to eliminating the six o'clock threat.
 
RebelPilot: The Empire Strikes Back is a rarity in movie history that it didn't suffer from ‘sequelitis’. Was the cast aware how big and hugely successful the trilogy would become? Was it daunting to be involved in the sequel to the biggest and most successful movie made at that time?

John Morton: We knew that George was intending to produce nine films and that the series would be with us a long time.  We also knew that the first film was very big in the U.S.  I had seen it in October 1977 on E 86th St. in NYC long after it opened.  But, you know, we were in the U.K. and were used to hearing about big film band wagons in the U.S.  I was in NYC just after Aliens opened and that seemed big.  I was in L.A. and sat in the front row at the Cineramadome for the first showing of Close Encounters in late 1977. And that seemed big.  What I am saying is that we knew Lucas had a grand vision that would be with us, but we had no idea that it would be qualitatively greater than anything else.  It wasn't daunting, it was a job.  But George led the effort so well, and as a result, everyone had a commitment to the film that was extremely unusual, especially for a big budget film.  His moral leadership was very evident in the way he exemplified his vision, especially in the way that he handled his people and expected his subordinates to handle people.
 
RebelPilot: Darth Vader had a point of contention with certain people "underestimating the power of the Force". Do you think the Imperials underestimated the power of the harpoon and tow cable?

John Morton: As the U.S. found in Vietnam and the Brits found in the Revolution, high technology does not always triumph over the will of people who are prepared to fight for what they believe and are resourceful in the way they use low-tech capabilities.
 
RebelPilot: Slipping into the character of Dak Ralter, just how BAD do Tauntauns smell on the outside?

DAK RALTER: Like a goat who has eaten too many canned baked beans.
 
RebelPilot: Was Luke Skywalker known to be excessively flatulent when in the confined space of a snowspeeder?

DAK RALTER: Well, he spent a lot of time with bean eating Tauntauns.  But then again, so did I, so that kind of off-set the effect, if you receive my drift.
 
RebelPilot: Out of all the Imperials which do you regard as the most fearsome? Eg: snowtroopers, TIE Pilots, stormtroopers, etc.

DAK RALTER: As you know, I escaped from Kalist 6 and with Breg went hand to hand against a number of stormtroopers.  That was pretty hairy.  It was odd fighting men like that, but being unable to see their eyes.  I wonder how good they would have been without their armor which slowed down their reaction time.

As for TIE pilots, when we were on Tierfon, we did a lot of attacks on Imperial convoys protected by TIE fighters, and their guys were very good. One on one, we did well.  However, they were very effective in defensive group tactics used to counter our first pass.  They were hard to surprise and would respond with tight formations that would virtually be offensive. If you, as a single starfighter, could survive that and break up their formation, they were not so fearsome one on one.
 
RebelPilot: Prowse, Jeremy Bulloch and others had a 'Men Behind The Mask' convention tour. What chances is there of ever having a Rebel Pilots tour and getting Ian Liston, Denis Lawson and the others together for a world tour?

John Morton: Probably not likely since their acting careers are still very current.
 
RebelPilot: Who do you find scarier, Darth Maul or Vader?

John Morton: Vader.  Maul certainly is scary, but unless he comes back to life and reveals more about himself and the origin and power of Sith evil, we are left with a very nasty flash without a tail.
 
RebelPilot: You're a guitarist. Do you play much and can you play the Star Wars theme?

John Morton: I play about twice a month in a church band.  We do a lot of black gospel and high energy Christian rock. As for the Star Wars theme, I should learn it.
 
RebelPilot: Star Wars licensed novels. Have you read any? And which are your favourites?

John Morton: Stackpole and Zahn.  Know them both and love Mike's stuff especially.
 
RebelPilot: If any, what unfulfilled ambitions do you have?

John Morton: I have two plays that I really want to get produced and could be good films.
 
RebelPilot: They say success is motivated by one of four desires: desire for love, desire for money, desire for recognition or desire for power. Which applies to you and why?

John Morton: In one of my plays, Hubris, the hero says that he's heard success comes from luck, talent or ambition and that if you have any two of the three, you can make it.  My character who says this adds another, patience.  What you posit is very wise, and I am not sure what exactly applies to me.  At different times of my life, I could have answered any of those four.  I'm tempted to say all.  But at almost 53, I look at life differently than when I started. You know, when you are young, you are awed by your own powerlessness in the larger sense but hubristically filled with the notion that you can take charge of your own life whatever you may face.  Then the two realizations clash and continue to do so for the rest of your life, until you have some kind of epiphany.  In 1986, I returned to the Christian faith and realized that I am just a vessel for God to do His work through me.  If I am "successful," it is by His grace and for His glory.  If I am not, then I must see where in my life I have had my successes.  Most important there is how well I have loved and parented my daughters, loved my wife and family and friends, served my community, however large or small it may be, and done my duty as a professional in the service of truth.
 
RebelPilot: Have you played Rogue Squadron on the N64? I can't get past the Battle Of Hoth level. Any tips from a veteran?

John Morton: This is definitely an area where I have had absolutely no success and thus have no tips except do or do not, there is no try.
 
MHisFBWY (Rom 8:14) DAK

Interview taken from RebelPilot Issue 54