From Darth Vader in “Star Wars” to King Jaffe-Joffer in “Coming to America,” James Earl Jones has excelled in characters with a regal baring. So watching him play Hoke Colburn, a humble chauffeur in the segregated South, in the Broadway version of “Driving Miss Daisy,” might just stun residents of Zamunda and The Death Star alike. Jones spoke to The Post before a recent show at the Golden Theatre about his life and career.

“Driving Miss Daisy” takes place in the South in the 1940s. Growing up, what sort of experiences did you have with segregation?

I was born in Mississippi, where racism and segregation [were] most virulent. But we lived on a farm, and that kept me isolated from the worst of it. We had neighbors who were white, who had kids, and both sets of parents were very careful not to let any encounters happen. Once, an encounter was threatened over who owned plum trees that were between both properties. My grandfather went and cut them all down. Destroyed his source of food and beauty. That was his resolution: destroy.

You were the voice of Darth Vader. How long did it take you to record the voice-over for the first film?

About 2½ hours.

What direction did George Lucas give you?

“Deeper. Deeper. Deeper.” But really, very little. The directions came in the second film, because we didn’t know what we had done right in the first. I started trying to give the character more subtlety, more humanity, and he said, “You’re trying to make him more human. But Jimmy, he’s not human. He’s part robot. Let’s go back to the very narrow band of inflection we established in the first one.”

How much did you get paid for that first one?

Seven thousand dollars. He asked me, “You want a day’s work?” Seven thousand dollars for a day’s work is not bad. I did it in 2½ hours and said, “Honey, I just made a killing.”

You’re best known for your voice. I understand there’s an ironic aspect to how that developed.

I’m a stutterer. That happened when I was about 4½, and I didn’t talk until I got to high school, when I had an English teacher who understood that I secretly wrote poetry. He said, if you like words you should be able to say them out loud. So he worked with me, and I began to read poetry out loud. I’m still a stutterer, and I still slur my words. I love narrating things, but I can’t do books on tape, because they require you to do the book cold. I find that impossible.

You filmed some of the first-ever sequences for “Sesame Street.” What was your impression of the show?

It was Burt Lancaster and I. He had the letters, and I had the numbers, or vice versa. I said to one of the producers, “You know, this is not gonna work. The Muppets are just too scary for kids.”

You had a small role as a lieutenant in Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove.” What are your memories of that?

Kubrick tricked George C. Scott [who played a general]. George wanted to give his role subtlety, but Kubrick wanted him to be an a – – hole, real bombastic. He made a deal with George where he said, “You do your version, then do my version.” But he didn’t use any of George’s version. He used all the bombastic a – – hole stuff. And George said, “I’ll never work with you again.” He was very angry about it.

How did you enjoy filming “Coming to America?” You and John Amos were a great on-screen combination.

I wanted John’s role so bad. The director, John Landis, said, “You’ve done some Shakespeare. You might be able to fool the audience better [as the king]. You’re not getting the hamburger guy.” God, I wanted the hamburger guy so bad.

Why?

To make a bigger ass of myself.