Content creator specializing in cinema, Nicolas Delage has found the most sought-after Star Wars extra. His investigation, which proved to be a success despite a mystery that lasted for years, involved a facial recognition tool.
Did you know ? Star Wars made an extra famous thanks to a seemingly anecdotal scene. In The Empire Strikes Backconsidered the best film of the cinematographic saga, a man appears in a shot for less than a second in Cloud City, home of Lando Calrissian.
Nothing exceptional at first glance, except that the character in question carries an ice cream maker under his arm. An anomaly, not to say an error, which has not gone unnoticed over time. To the point that this extra has become a real meme.
According to this encyclopedic page on the universe of Star Wars, this mysterious character is called Willrow Hood and works as a miner in the complex in orbit above the gas giant Bespin. As his popularity grew, he gained popularity and visibility: a figurine in his likeness, an appearance in Lego games Star WarsFacebook pages to find out who he is in real life… And this is precisely the task that Nicolas Delage, content creator specializing in cinema, whose YouTube channel exceeds 100,000 subscribers, has tackled.
A French videographer found the most sought-after extra in Star Wars
Nicolas Delage did not tackle a simple mission, as he himself admits in his thread published on Twitter February 18. Especially since a fan was motivated to find the man who lends his features to Willrow Hood, in vain. In 2021, he used the London press to try to alert the actor’s family. “ But this article will not provide any answer to the mystery », says Nicolas Delage, who had to be even smarter to succeed in his investigation.
The light has come from artificial intelligence. THE internet detective explain ” that I had to use facial recognition! There is a website called PimEyes which allows you to find other photos of a person via an image. I drag the image of Willrow onto PimEyes and, unsurprisingly, I come across other images of Willrow… But, thanks to PimEyes, I manage to find other images of the same actor in other films! “. He then discovers that the extra also appeared in a James Bond film (Octopussy in 1983) or the series Minder.
From image to image, he finally comes across an old documentary about a retirement home, in which the extra appears under the identity “Mister Sen”. All that was missing was the first name, found thanks to an article in The Guardian. By cross-checking all the information, Nicolas Delage solves the mystery: the actor who plays Willrow Hood is actually called Egbert Sen, information confirmed by the family.
Nicolas Delage tried to contact Egbert Sen to explain to him how popular he is with certain fans Star Wars. Sadly, he died in 2019 at the age of 87. He was still able to speak with Paula and Dolly, two of his daughters, and, for the anecdote, Dolly also played in The Empire Strikes Back.
We will notice that, for once, artificial intelligence has been used wisely and for a noble cause – it’s a change from diversions to feed the worst filth of the Internet.
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