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“I
t’s kind of like Scrooge on
Christmas morning: ‘Oh my
God, this time I’m going to
appreciate it in a way I wasn’t able
to as a young man.’ The fact that
it is so special to so many people,
it’s hard to believe you could take
something for granted like that.”
So says Mark Hamill, who,
like the legions of Star Wars fans
worldwide, is simply thrilled to
be reprising his most famous
character.
More than 30 years after
Return of the Jedi
, Star Wars is
finally back. Things are a little
different this time around:
Disney is at the helm and
George Lucas has handed
directorial duties over to J.J.
Abrams, but
Star Wars: The
Force Awakens
is set to be a
return to form for the franchise.
Indeed, following the prequel
trilogy that disappointed a lot of
fans (although Jar Jar Binks took
most of the flack for that), the
highly anticipated trailer released
earlier this year – in which Han
Solo turned to his faithful furry
friend Chewbacca and said,
"Chewie, we’re home” – sent fans
into a frenzy all over again.
“I never thought it would
happen, never in a million years,”
Hamill says. “George Lucas had
told me that he wanted to do some
more Star Wars films, even though
he wasn’t going to be doing
them himself, and I
assumed that I
wasn’t going
to be coming back because our
story had a beginning, middle, and
an end. My story was finished.
But then George told me that I
could return to the role if I wanted
to and if I didn’t they would write
me out of it! Of course, there was
no way I was going to turn that
chance down. It wasn’t like I had a
choice. Can you imagine all those
fans forming a mob around my
house protesting that I had turned
down the chance to do another
Star Wars? I decided I didn’t want
to go from beloved icon to most
hated man in fandom!”
The irony of returning
to a role that he has
spent most of his
professional life trying
to get away from is not
lost on Hamill, who
says that once he got
his head around that
fact he was thrilled.
It may seem as if
the actor had all but disappeared in
thee interim years, but he’s actually
been pursuing a successful career
as a voiceover artist, including a
long-running role as the Joker in
Batman: The Animated Series
.
“Boy, is it a great job!” he grins.
“It’s the ultimate lazy actor’s job:
you don’t have to memorise your
lines and you can come in looking
like hell. They don’t care how you
look; they care about how you
sound.”
But all that changes now.
Typically, details of the blockbuster
are under wraps, with actors
forbidden to talk about plotlines.
What we do know is that along
with Hamill, Harrison Ford and
Carrie Fisher are reprising their
roles and
Girls
actor Adam Driver is
starring as Kylo Ren, a dark warrior.
And if the trailers are anything to
go by, the latest instalment will
truly be a force to be reckoned
with.
The release of space behemoth
StarWars:
The Force Awakens
is nearly upon us and as
original hero Luke Skywalker returns, Mark Hamill
shares his joy at reprising his greatest role.
DVD
&
BD
FEATURE
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