Mark Hamill Describes What It Was Like Working With George Lucas on STAR WARS in 1988 Interview
Back in 1988, Mark Hamill sat down for an interview with Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine to talk about various aspects of himself and his career. There are particularly some interesting insights on what it was like for him to work on the original Star Wars trilogy.
What a wild and awesome experience that must’ve been! This interview was conducted on the 10-year anniversary of Star Wars and he had some time to reflect on his experiences at that time. One of the first questions he was asked in regard to Star Wars, was what it was like working with George Lucas on the movie. This was his response:
“I wish I knew what I know about George now when I did the first Star Wars because he’s a very introspective fellow and can be sort of intimidating when you really don’t know him. And he’s really very easy going and free. I was sorry he didn’t direct any of the other Star Wars films. It’s hard to say that, though, because Irvin Kirshner did such a great job on The Empire Strikes Back and it was such a different, dark movie.
“But, I was kind of sorry George didn’t continue in the way Steven Spielberg did with the Indiana Jones movies. But I can understand that.
Hamill goes on to say that he thinks Lucas’ least favorite part about directing is directing actors, but he did enjoy the experience of working with him:
“I don’t think that directing actors is George’s favourite part of the filmmaking process. I could be wrong, but I think he seems to enjoy the other elements better: the post-production, editing and so forth.
“But my whole experience with George has been great and I’ve really enjoyed it. I don’t know if I will ever get the opportunity to work with him again. I had no idea, when he was directing Star Wars, that it would be a possibility that he wouldn’t direct anymore.
“Because of American Graffiti and Star Wars, I thought, ‘Gee, we’re going to get a lot of George Lucas movies!’ We did but he didn’t direct any of them.”
George Lucas still hasn’t directed anything, but I sure would love to see him come out of retirement to direct something! All of his filmmaker friends are still making great movies, it’s not like he’s too old. He should jump back in and direct another movie someday. It doesn’t have to be Star Wars, I’d much rather see him direct an original project. The guy has got to have more story ideas!
Via: StarWarsNews