Stephen Bayley

For other uses, see Stephen.

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"Well, basically it's just luck. We were sent as a group. We were sent along to be stormtroopers. For me, I was lucky to stand in the right place at the right time when they wanted two people to stand at the bottom of the ramp up to the Millennium Falcon, and from that, yeah, I just did whatever I was told, basically."

―Stephen Bayley, on how he became the extra who portrayed TK-421^[2]

Stephen Bayley portrayed the stormtrooper TK-421 in the 1977 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, as an uncredited extra.

Biography

"There's other scenes where there's a lot of action going on around these two guys standing there as two other guys. It's not until it's the scene where there's the noise on the ship that then me and the other guy, we go up […]"

―Stephen Bayley, describing the difference between himself as TK-421 and other stormtrooper performers^[3]

Stephen Bayley was a stormtrooper performer^[1] as an uncredited extra in the 1977 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. He portrayed TK-421 and filled in for David Prowse to film Darth Vader's gloved hands as he piloted his TIE Advanced.^[2]^[3]^[4] After joining central castings, the original Star Wars film was the first job Bayley was offered as a 23- or 24-year-old film extra. He said that at the time, film extras were told when and where to show up for filming and fitted for a costume on the first day, rather than knowing in advance what they would be doing. Instead of receiving scripts, the extras were verbally directed on what to do. He filmed for about six non-consecutive days across a couple of weeks and did not receive scripts.^[3]

Bayley became TK-421 because he was simply standing in the right place at the right time when they needed two men in stormtrooper armor to stand by the Millennium Falcon, hear a noise, look, and go up the ramp. Although Bayley did not play Luke Skywalker in TK-421's armor coming down the ramp, he said he filmed other scenes as a stormtrooper running through the Death Star corridors. When someone was needed to portray Darth Vader's gloved hands pressing a joystick in a cockpit, Bayley was chosen because he was available; however, he cannot identify whether what he shot as Vader's hands is in the finished film. Some things he filmed did not make it through the editing process. He described the hangar set as amazing and as big as it seems on screen, and from it, he could see other set pieces and scenes being filmed.^[3]

According to Bayley, the extra who portrayed TK-710 was in his forties at the time, was an antique dealer, and gave Bayley rides back to London in his Ford Fiesta. Although Bayley roughly remembers the other extra's name, he has never seen or heard of that man since.^[3]

Since the extras did not have a non-disclosure agreement, Bayley told his cousin about his role and pointed himself out when she saw the film with him. Afterward, he did not follow the subsequent films, but he has since seen them and rewatched his video recording of A New Hope more than once. He was not aware that he had played a character called TK-421 or that it had become significant in the Star Wars fandom until somebody told him about it years later.^[3] In the time since, he has attended and signed autographs at fan conventions.^[1]^[4] On April 21, 2022, he became an honorary member of the 501st Legion's UK Garrison.^[3]