Star Wars extras in Elstree 1976 (Sonny Malhotra)

“It didn’t seem anything special to me.” That was a common feeling among the actors who reported to Elstree Studios in 1976 for work on some science fiction thing that was probably going to be on TV. One young man showed up where Central Casting told him to go and asked the first person he saw on the set to get him a cup of coffee. It was just another job. Except here, the man who brought him his coffee was George Lucas.

Elstree 1976 is a collection of interviews with background actors and bit players from the original Star Wars films, some of whom have managed to turn their work on the film into a lifelong source of pride and income. Star Wars conventions allow those who played even the most minor parts to get paid simply for signing autographs. Some of these actors also continued to do background work their entire careers, making the film a little like 20 Feet from Stardom or a Hollywood “Where’s Waldo?” in that there’s pleasure to be taken in seeing these working-class folks pop up around the edges of your favorite movies.

But with Stardom, the purpose was also to display the talent of and critical role played by backup singers. Here, the demands on the actors were quite small: step into this rubber suit or put this helmet on and look this way. Paul Blake, who played Han Solo’s buglike enemy Greedo, considered himself a “serious young actor” at the time, and he asked Lucas how to play the role. “Play it like they do in the movies,” Lucas told him.

The more illuminating parts of Elstree come primarily from learning about what these actors have done that wasn’t related to Star Wars. Derek Lyons, who played several bit parts, invented something called “Zen swim.” Stormtrooper Laurie Goode just missed having his original song recorded by the Moody Blues and became addicted to Valium, prescribed to cure his adolescent (he says) fantasy of wanting to be a pop star.

Paul Blake, for his part, has had a successful career as an actor, playing great stage roles like Macbeth, but he knows that his tombstone will read “Here Lies Greedo.” Rather than demeaning, he finds that “fantastic” and embraces what the experience gave him.

That’s the most common theme on display throughout the documentary, though there are moments of bitterness. At one point, the Star Wars convention hierarchy is discussed, with Rebel pilot John Chapman recalling being pressured not to show up anymore (for having been merely an extra, not someone with a credited role). Not all actors are lovely and friendly like he thought, he says. He’s also a bit haunted over not having pushed when he had the chance to get more out of what became the biggest blockbuster of all time.

Then there’s David Prowse, who played Darth Vader (although his lines, of course, were voiced by James Earl Jones). He has, mysteriously, been banned from official Lucasfilm celebrations. Possibly he annoyed Lucas by taking too much credit for Vader or for telling his version of the deal given to him: that he would be Vader’s body and voice. However, these days Prowse shrugs off the disagreement.

It’s been 40 years, but the memories are still clear. For one participant, all it takes is the smell of plastic, like some kind of madeleine, to remember that hot summer in 1976 with everyone baking in their rubber and vinyl. The recollections here are not likely dramatic or funny enough to interest those who aren’t Star Wars fans, but for die-hards, this will be a very down-to-earth account of what it was like to work in a galaxy far, far away.