With the eerie appearance of Darth Vader’s melted face mask in the latest teaser trailer for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, we’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic for sci-fi’s favourite anti-hero.

Darth Vader mask
(screenshot/Disney)

We thought we’d take a look at all the actors who have played Vader  (or Anakin Skywalker, as he grew up on Tatooine) throughout the six films. We looked at what they added to the character and where they were now.

James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones
Jones with wife Cecilia Hart (Sylvain Gaboury/AP)

Jones voiced Darth Vader during the original trilogy. He requested not to be credited in the first two movies because he didn’t think his role was big enough to merit a mention. His voice has since became one of the most recognisable things about Vader.

Jones has had a fantastically versatile career both before and after his Star Wars stint, which he must have assumed had ended with Return Of The Jedi in 1983. However he returned briefly to voice Vader once more at the end of Revenge Of The Sith in 2005.

Since 1982, James Earl Jones (now aged 84) has been married to actress Cecilia Hart, and they have one child – Flynn Earl Jones. He’s still working too, with roles in TV series Agent X and feature film Starbright expected over the next couple of years.

David Prowse

David Prowse
A muscular Prowse in his pre-Star Wars body-building heyday (PA)

David Prowse was the body inside that shiny black Vader suit. He was a body builder by profession, and brought great physicality to the role – throwing around imperial officers by the throat and whatnot.

As well as his body-building career Prowse also played the Green Cross Code Man in a British road-safety campaign that ran from the 1970s to the 1990s. He’s been married since 1963 and has three children.

Over the past decade-and-a-half Prowse has suffered severe health issues. In 2001 he was diagnosed with septic arthritis and became paralysed in both arms. He was also diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009. An article in 2014 claimed Prowse (now aged 79) had developed dementia, though he denied this saying his memory loss was down to nothing more than old age.

Last year he reprised his role as the Green Cross Code Man to warn adults about the dangers of texting and using a smartphone when crossing the road, for MoreThan.

Bob Anderson

Bob Anderson was an Olympic fencer who got into film-fight choreography in a big way. He’s trained actors from Errol Flynn to Johnny Depp, and was the stunt double during Darth Vader’s lightsaber battles.

Anderson died in 2012 aged 89. You can still see all his swords, medals and movie footage, which were donated by his widow to the Royal Hospital School’s tercentenary museum.

Sebastian Shaw

Sebastian Shaw only played Darth Vader in a few scenes, although they remain some of the most memorable. The veteran Shakespearean actor (already 77 by the time he filmed Return Of The Jedi) was the face revealed during the unmasking of Darth Vader.

He was also the Force ghost incarnation of Anakin Skywalker at the end of the film, although he was digitally replaced by Hayden Christensen in the 2004 re-release in a controversial attempt to tie the two trilogies together.

Shaw maintained his acclaimed stage career throughout the 1980s, eventually dying of natural causes in 1994, aged 89. Famous actors including Ian Richardson and Ben Kingsley spoke at his funeral.

Jake Lloyd

Star Wars
Jake with George Lucas (John Stillwell/PA)

As if to prove Skywalker Snr has been played by actors at all stages of their career, Jake Lloyd was playing the young pod-racing Anakin at the tender age of eight.

Jake’s film career didn’t go well, however, and he quit acting in 2001 citing a stressful schedule (60 interviews a day) and bullying from classmates (including constant lightsaber sounds).

In 2012 it was reported that Lloyd (who is now 26) was moving into writing and directing, and was making a documentary on the plight of Tibetan exiles living in India.

Hayden Christensen

Hayden Christensen
(Arthur Mola/Invision)

Hayden Christensen played a brooding young Anakin opposite Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman in Episodes II and III, culminating in his character’s transformation into Darth Vader. Although some praised his portrayal, he awkwardly managed to pick up two Razzies for Worst Supporting Actor.

Hayden’s film career hasn’t taken off in the way he’d have wanted after Revenge Of The Sith in 2005, his most memorable role being in the teleportation romp Jumper.

Since 2007 Hayden has been in a tumultuous relationship (dating, engagement, break-up, dating, child) with Jumper co-star Rachel Bilson. He has also bought his own farm in Ontario and is learning to run it himself. As well as film roles, Hayden fills his time with charity campaigning and modelling.