Jeremy Irons Disappointed With Scar's Appearance In The Lion King

Despite starring in the hugely successful animated film The Lion King, actor Jeremy Irons wasn’t happy with Scar’s appearance. Including re-releases, The Lion King has made almost $1 billion at the global box office. In the original Disney movie, Irons voiced Scar, the brother of James Earl Jones’ iconic character, Mufasa.

While reflecting on the most iconic characters he’s played throughout his career, including Die Hard with a Vengeance and Lolita, Irons told GQ what he really thought of Scar’s animation design. When the Oscar winner went into the studio to record his lines for The Lion King, video cameras were filming him and people sketching him during the process. He assumed that Scar’s design would be inspired by his own appearance.

The Lion King, I was working at Stratford, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and they said, could I do this? And I assumed that I would see a screen with a lion doing that, and I’d have to try to make my mouth do this, what his mouth was doing. But no, we arrived in some studio in London or some room in, no, I can’t remember. It was big. And all around the walls, they had the storyline pictured.

There were people with video cameras. I sat at a desk and they would throw lines at me, video cameras would shoot me, and there were people sketching me. Then, about four months later, we’d meet again, where I remember the second time, I think it was in Canada, I was shooting there and they all came and they had got more stuff together and were beginning to sort of find the character, and we tried more lines and more ideas. And once again, they were still looking at me and videoing me.

However, when he watched the film, Irons admittedly was “really upset,” especially after seeing how “muscular and wonderful” Mufasa looked. Meanwhile, Scar was “mangy looking” with a “terrible tail and terrible mane.” He thought to himself, “Is that what they saw when they were [sketching me]?” It was at this point that Irons realized the filmmakers weren’t actually sketching him during the recording process.

The Oscar-winning actor felt even worse when The Lion King premiered at Radio City Music Hall, and the audience was elated after Scar died. The actor said, “This is not possible,” and wondered why the moviegoers were so happy over Scar’s death when he was a “wonderful character.”

Scar is considered one of the most iconic Disney villains, so Irons’ legacy in this space is already solidified. Despite his frustrations over Scar’s design, Irons actually thought the whole experience was “great” and “very free.” The actor felt even better once he received a call from Disney chair Jeffrey Katzenberg, who informed him that a “big part” of The Lion King‘s success was due to his antagonist.

Irons thought his contribution to the film’s high box office returns would result in him being sent a gift from Disney, like when Robin Williams was gifted a Picasso, but that never happened. He may not have received a gift from Disney, but The Lion King‘s achievements, which included multiple Academy and Golden Globe Awards, spawned an entire franchise.

Jeffrey Katzenberg called me at the house I was staying in Italy and said, The Lion King is a huge success and a big part of that is your character. And I was very pleased and hoped that I’d get something in ... as a thank you because I remember, who played Mrs. Doubtfire—Robin Williams. That’s right. Robin did work for Disney. Now Disney don’t pay very much money. I mean, they don’t.

And Robin called them up and said, after Mrs. Doubtfire, I’ve made a fortune for your company and you paid me a tiny fee. And in ..., he got a Picasso. I hoped maybe Jeffrey would put sand in his pocket. But he didn’t. Anyway, they were very pleased with me. But no, I didn’t get a Picasso.

Aside from movie sequels like The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride and The Lion King 1½, multiple TV shows, and two photorealistic remakes, the story was also adapted for Broadway, which won Best Musical at the Tony Awards.

Thirty-one years after its theatrical release, The Lion King is still one of the best animated movies of all time, and its success in the years since 1994 has only proven that correct. Irons may have been upset at first, but, surely, he’s now in awe of the legacy that he, his co-stars and the filmmakers have created.