Anjelica Huston

"She was great because she could be this stern mother-like figure and seem very lovely but then be able to turn really nasty. That was fun."

―Director Paul Young, on Anjelica Huston's role in Star Wars: Visions^[3]

Anjelica Huston (born July 8, 1951), is an American actress regarded as an iconic figure for her various roles, including Morticia Addams in The Addams Family. In 2023, she voiced the Sith Mother in the short film "Screecher's Reach," a part of the anthology series Star Wars: Visions Volume 2. The episode's director, Paul Young, was delighted to have Huston involved. In the following year, she later voiced an additional character, Isa Durand, in the third season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch.

Biography[]

"We have the wonderful Anjelica Huston who plays the Sith Mother, and she plays it quite nicely. It's like she's a lovely person but she's hiding something behind that voice, that facade."

―Paul Young^[4]

Anjelica Huston was born on July 8, 1951 in Los Angeles, California, United States of America. She^[1] is an American^[2] actress who spent her early years in Ireland.^[1] Huston is regarded as a screen icon,^[5] and she is known for numerous roles, including her Academy Award-winning performance in the 1985 film Prizzi's Honor and for her role as Morticia Addams in The Addams Family 1991—1993 film series.^[2] Illustrator Elsa Charretier based the design of the Nautolan character Clariah on Huston's appearance.^[6] That character first appeared in the short comic story "Tales from Wild Space: Family Affair, Part 1," published in the tenth issue of IDW's Star Wars Adventures series^[7] on May 9, 2018.^[8]

In 2023, Huston joined the Star Wars franchise as the voice of the Sith Mother in "Screecher's Reach," the second episode of Volume 2 of the anthology television series Star Wars: Visions.^[9] The episode was produced by Cartoon Saloon, an Irish animation studio, and directed by Paul Young, who was proud of the creation of a Star Wars short film that featured a predominantly Irish cast. Given Anjelica's previous time living in Ireland and her father John Huston's support of the Irish film industry, Young was glad to have her involved. A team from Lucasfilm facilitated Huston's participation, and Young enjoyed the actress's ability to switch her performance from a stern^[3] yet lovely^[4] motherly figure to a more sinister character^[3] hiding something beneath her façade.^[4] Huston's casting was first announced at Celebration Europe on April 10, 2023, prior to the release of Volume 2 on Disney+ on May 4 of that year. Her involvement in the series was described as a "surprise" by the announcement post on StarWars.com.^[5]

Huston voiced a different Star Wars character, the Devaronian Isa Durand, in the Disney+ series Star Wars: The Bad Batch. The character first appeared in "Paths Unknown," the second episode of the series' third season,^[10] which premiered on February 21, 2024.^[11]