William tells us that the UPI has a new interview and article with Christopher Lee about Star Wars:

Fans of Lee who come to see him in "Star Wars" will need to be patient. He doesn't appear on screen until perhaps one hour into the movie.

Lee, who turns 80 on March 27, is happy to have "Star Wars" on his resume.

"For two reasons," he said, "one, to be a part of cinema history and two, I survived it."

For clarification, Lee said he meant that his character survived in the story. He has played so many villains that he is accustomed to being killed off before the story is over. However, he said his lightsaber fight scene in "Star Wars" pushed the limits of his physicality.

"My hands will move quickly," he said. "My legs won't. I found out the hard way what I can do and what I can't do."

Some critics have registered stern disappointment with "Attack of the Clones," but Lee thinks they must be missing the point.

"George Lucas said to me, 'Star Wars' has never had good reviews,'" Lee said. "But critics lose sight of the fact that this not Shakespeare. This is not the greatest actors in the world with the greatest dialogue in the world. This is entertainment."

Despite his recent high profile as a featured actor in two huge movie hits, Lee said producers are telling him there aren't any parts for people his age.

"My answer is, write them," said Lee.

Actually, Lee said he does get frequent calls to participate in projects, but he isn't wild about what is being offered.

"They're all quite dreadful," he said. "They're all vaguely associated with either very young people where I am practically a biblical figure, or there are four-letter words galore on every page. You know the most important word is what got me into 'Star Wars,' a three-letter word -- fun. You don't hear it very often. You don't experience it very often."