Femi Taylor

"I had no idea what it was I was auditioning for. They were quite secretive, and they said they wanted me to come in my swimwear. I thought 'I hope it's not a blue movie.' "

―Femi Taylor^[2]

Femi Taylor (born April 8, 1961) is a Nigerian-born British dancer and actress. She was born in Ibadan, Nigeria and was adopted at the age of 2 together with her twin brother, Tim Taylor. In her youth, she spent years training with the London Contemporary Dance Company and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York, and she appeared in the original London cast of Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical Cats.^[1]

In 1982, Taylor auditioned with director Richard Marquand for a dancing role. The actress, who was 22 at the time, was asked to come in her swimsuit. Despite her fear of auditioning for a sleazy erotic movie, she showed up for the audition. It was not until after she won the role of Oola, Jabba the Hutt's Twi'lek slave dancer, that Taylor found out she had auditioned for the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.^[1]

In 1997, when Star Wars creator George Lucas envisioned a revamped Special Edition of the Star Wars trilogy, Taylor was asked to reprise the part. New scenes were filmed for the Special Edition, most notably a handle of shots featuring Oola cowering in fear before her Hutt master and the ferocious rancor.^[3] The filmmakers were initially concerned with her possible changes in appearance since 1982, and they were afraid the actress wouldn't fit anymore in the original costume. Taylor, however, had retained her figure.^[1]

Her brother Benedict Taylor played fighter pilot Bravo 2 in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.