In Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, fans get to see a young Anakin Skywalker being mentored by both Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). Though Qui-Gon is killed early on in the film in his memorable battle against Darth Maul, the character makes such an impact that fans continue to love the Jedi Master despite his short time in the movie.
Responding to a fan on Twitter asking about Qui-Gonn's "There's always bigger fish" line, Star Wars: The Clone Wars writer Henry Gilroy reveals that the character 's fan-favorite line wasn't actually written by George Lucas.
In a scene in the film, fans get to see Qui-Gonn's group pursued by a vicious fish underwater. They try their best to escape, but then as an act of a grand dues ex-machina, the fish is then eaten by a larger and more terrifying predator. This is where Qui-Gon says one of his fan-favorite lines.
"‘There's always a bigger fish' was not originally in George's movie script," Gilroy wrote on his post which has recently been shared on Reddit. "When I was adapting the film to graphic novel back in 97 and doing my dialogue tweaks, I was told Liam Neeson added the line in the shoot, which I liked as it spoke to the mystery of the Sith plot in TPM."
This year marks the 20th anniversary of The Phantom Menace, and Lucasfilm is celebrating the anniversary at the 2019 Star Wars Celebration, bringing in prequel stars like Hayden Christensen for photo ops.
Lucasfilm's next Star Wars movie, Star Wars: Episode IX, premieres December 20, 2019.