"All the stuff I grew up watching like Star Wars led to making my show 'Robot Chicken' which is essentially our take on pop culture," Green explains. "Just the jokes we make at its expense -- kind of the ironies and inconsistencies and compatibilities of properties is what our show is all about. We like to poke fun at the same things we take so seriously."
When filmmaker George Lucas began preparation to film the Star Wars prequels, Green jumped at any chance to drop off his resume. "I'll admit, when the prequels were casting I put calls in like crazy," Green says. "But the simple fact of the matter is they were filming in Australia and you have to hire a certain amount of Australian cast and crew to get the tax discounts. So there were only like six roles available. And I'm not Ewan McGregor or Hayden Christensen. I would have loved to do it, but it just wasn't in the cards for me then. But if I were cast in a sci-fi film, I'd do ya proud."
Though he never got to pick up a lightsaber, Green says that he was just as thrilled to attend all three of the special MTV celebrity screenings of the prequels at Skywalker Ranch, with Lucas in attendance. It was at these events that Green found himself in awe with the influential filmmaker.
"One of these days I'd like to sit down and have a real long chat with George Lucas," Green says. "When I first met him I couldn't help but think over and over about how iconic he is. It took a couple of times meeting him before I realized that he's just a guy who likes to make movies the same way that Steven Spielberg, or any of these other super-famous directors. He comes up with a cool idea, sits down and writes it, and makes a movie. But because Star Wars has taken on such a life on its own, it's become a culture in itself. People have Star Wars-themed weddings, and the fantasy of it becomes a part of their lives. That's got to be crazy for him to acknowledge as a guy who just likes to make fun movies. I've seen real fanatics approach him with tattoos of the characters on them, and I wonder how does one even respond to that kind of intense love for the films? He wasn't even consciously trying to be a pop culture phenomenon."
"Now I think he is having fun with it all," Green continues. "I watched him during the premiere screenings at Skywalker for all of the prequels and it was neat to see him come out of his shell. During the premiere of Episode I you could tell there was a lot of pressure with him taking all this on again, but between Episode II and III, his demeanor changed so much. He was really relaxed the last time I talked to him and we had a great, casual interaction. I remember asking him how crazy his press junket was, and we bonded over that as film professionals. I imagine it takes people a while to get past what he represents and just chat with him like a real person."
