Well Star Wars fans, it’s that time of year where the annual Star Wars Celebration takes place – and this time around it’s in London. While last year focused on the hype surrounding The Force Awakens, this year has been all about Rogue One. However, the first day of the event was just as much about an hour with Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill .
He had a lot to say about the new Star Wars trilogy during the hour long panel, including his own thoughts on when the thought Luke Skywalker should have been revealed himself in The Force Awakens, “…where I thought I came in, I thought I came in when the Lightsaber flies off [in the snow],” Hamill said. He then reacted surprised that it wasn’t him. “What? Rey caught it? She hasn’t even finished her training!”
Imagine having been able to see Luke duel Kylo Ren instead of Rey? He was also very surprised when he first read the script that he didn’t come into the final scene, but admitted he was still nervous about how fans would react when they saw him. This said, he focused on the positives, saying, “I want to do all movies like that — 30 seconds work and second billing. It’s the most elaborate entrance in show business history. I wasn’t insulted. I thought it was a great surprise”.
He did lament on the amount of training he had to do for the one scene, however, “I went to training, and I lost all this weight. I thought, ‘I must be doing something physical if they’re sending me to the gym twice a week and torturing me physically.’”
Looking ahead to Episode VIII, where it’s clear he’s going to have a bigger role, he didn’t let anything slip, but he did take a moment to let us know how great the script is, “I was looping Episode VIII yesterday. Rian Johnson is amazing. His dialogue will make you forget ‘May The Force Be With You’.” Well, now we don’t think that’s possible, but here’s hoping he’s right about the quality of the dialogue in either case.
He also reminded us why he can’t talk about anything – because it’s in his contract. But that doesn’t mean he’s a fan of it. Hamill said, “I understand why they’re doing it, but it can get really out of control with the pages that get shredded every day. I’m in the elderly recluse stage of my career, I have to write cartoons in the margins to make me remember these lines. Need a script you can write on and take home and look and read! So they let me have one scene, and I keep it on my person.”
Watch the full panel here:
The Star Wars Celebration continues in London through the rest of the weekend.
Article written with Darcy Oliver
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