As eager as many are to see the return of spaceship battles and lightsaber duels, there are an equal amount just as eager for the return of Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker. In a recent interview with Yahoo Movies, actor Mark Hamill touched on the new BB-8 droid, his relationship with Harrison Ford, and what convinced him to come back to the franchise.
When asked why the recently released teaser trailer didn’t feature any of the original cast, he was not surprised at at all. Hamill explains what their roles now signify in this chapter of the Star Wars universe.
This is about the new generation of characters; I think that’s the most important thing. It’s the opening act of a whole new approach to the storytelling. So I never thought that the stories would be – first of all, I never thought I’d be involved in it again, period. And then when George [Lucas] said that they wanted to do more, I rightly assumed that it wouldn’t be our story, because we had a beginning, a middle, and an end. This must be our offspring and the current generation, with us there lending the kind of support that Peter Cushing and Alec Guinness did in the original. So no, that didn’t surprise me. And I mean, I’m one of those people where I just think, “Keep me out of it. I’ll ruin it, I’m sure!” [Laughs] I’ll show up and just ruin the whole thing.
Hamill lends credence to the popular theory that the elder statesmen of the series will be passing the torch in this installment. Even more interesting is how he essentially confirms that we will be seeing a young Solo or Skywalker in The Force Awakens. All signs point to either Daisy Ridley or John Boyega, or both, being the offspring of either Luke or Leia. Or both! (HaHa. That kiss is still creepy, they both had the force…they should have known better!) When the character’s names from the trailer were released, they intentionally withheld those two last names. Very interesting…
Hamill goes on to possibly shed light on why we haven’t seen much of the actor in front of the camera in recent years.
I don’t want that pressure! It’s too much pressure! You know, because I said to George, “Have you really thought this through? Because maybe it’s not such a great idea.” But I had a feeling, I said, “You know what – if there’s a weak link, if Carrie [Fisher] or Harrison [Ford] decides they don’t want to do it, there’s an out. Because it’s all or nothing. It should be all of us or none of us.” So I was ready to go either way. And now that we’re all in, we’ll see what happens.
So essentially, Hamill said he would do it, thinking that Ford didn’t want to go back to the series. Ford has notoriously distanced himself from all of the fanfare created by Star Wars for years now. In addition, he has becoming increasingly known for being slightly…grumpy in his golden years. Hamill elaborates on Ford.
Well, you know, he was someone that was unpredictable. I hadn’t seen him in years; I didn’t know what his feelings were. I know he’s sometimes grown impatient with people that don’t want to focus on what he’s doing currently and want to go stroll down memory lane. God knows, I’m used to that sort of thing. But who knew? And for him to jump back in so enthusiastically, I was delighted. It’s a wonderful character. Everybody loves Han Solo.
Finally Hamill finished up the interview with perhaps the most fun bit of information. He talked about everyone’s new favorite droid the BB-8.
They never cease to amaze me with what they’re able to come up with you know? I said, “How are you ever gonna top R2-D2, the most adorable droid in movie history?” And then they have this new one. I can’t even tell you his name, but you saw it in the trailer. And when they were demonstrating how they did this thing, live on set — because it’s not CGI, that’s a live prop — I was just amazed. They let me play around with it. [Laughs] I was running it all around at the creature shop up in Pinewood. I’m telling you, it’s an absolute delight. And not having thought that I’d ever go back there, to go back into that world, is just – I get the chills. It’s just so much fun.
That is probably the most encouraging piece of information. That seeing the BB-8 made Luke Skywalker feel like he was back in the world of Star Wars. That speaks to the level of authenticity that director J.J. Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy and the crew, have brought back to the series. The fact that it’s a practical prop is mind-blowing and that only means to get ready to see an army of them next holiday season. It can’t get here fast enough…
What do you think about what Hamill had to say? Let us know on the comment boards and make sure to share our stories on Reddit, , and !
Source: via Collider