Empire Online continues its AOTC interviews.

Here's an excerpt from their interview with editor & sound designer Ben Burtt:

How much did you cut out?

There a lot of scenes as usual that have been taken out of the film. One goal is for the film to have a reasonable length. Episode II would be probably be around four hours long if you kept everything in it that was written and performed in its completed form.

Isn't it hard losing great sequences?

There's always a lot of hard work that goes into creating certain scenes and they a have their value and their moment. But one of the thing that is remarkable about George I think that nothing is sacred to him. If he had an idea that he wrote loved originally and he wrote and directed it, if it doesn't work in the end, it's thrown out of the picture. In a Star Wars kind of storytelling, George wants things to move along quickly, he doesn't want things to linger on a particular point.

You can read the rest of the interview by clicking here.

And here's an excerpt from their interview with Jimmy Smits who plays Bail Organa:

Were you disappointed that you weren't playing a Jedi?

First of all I had to deal with the fact that I wasn't gonna get a lightsaber which everybody has to deal with. I guess George knows that when he starts talking to people. That's the question most fans ask; "Well did you get a saber? "And that really conjures up a whole picture in people's minds.

Is there anything you can tell us about your character's progress in the next film, or have you been sworn to secrecy?

In my case the fate of my character is pretty much pre-destined - you know that Alderaan explodes, I pretty much know what's gonna happen.

You can read the rest of the interview by clicking here.