Mark Hamill Shares Some Cool Things about STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
Art by Chema Mansilla
During a recent interview with Yahoo Movies, Mark Hamill talked about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In the process, he revealed some pretty cool information. He talked about how he hated the beard he had to sport during the shoot, what it was like reuniting with Harrison Ford, the focus of the new film, and the fact that the new droid BB-8 is actually a practical effect! Regarding his new beard, he says,
"That is what I call my contractually obligated beard. Listen: I think they look fine on other people. It’s just not me. I mean, I never got used to it. But face foliage is almost a part of the costume. And it does bring a gravitas, perhaps unearned, but nevertheless, it makes a statement that they wanted to make, and I’m more than happy to oblige them."
I'm not a big fan of facial hair myself. I tried growing a beard a couple of times, but it itched so bad that I couldn't sleep at night! I'll never do that again. When talking about reuniting with Ford for the film, he said,
"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."
It's really good to hear that Ford was so enthusiastic about coming back for a new Star Wars adventure. It's one of those things that I never thought would happen. Then there's that interesting bit info about that BB-8 droid we saw in the trailer being a practical effect:
"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."
I'd love to see that droid character in person to see how it worked! I'm really surprised to hear that that thing was practical. He then talks about the focus of the film's story:
"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, [the trailer focusing on new characters] 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."
No way! He's gonna be awesome, and I think it's safe to assume that almost every Star Wars fan in the world is looking forward to the day where we see Hamill back as Luke Skywalker.