Mark Interviews 2000+

Mark Hamill - Actor, Director, STAR WARS Icon

Continuing the series of popular online chats with STAR WARS celebrities, Hyperspace welcomed Mark Hamill, the actor behind Luke Skywalker, to the message board forums on February 10, 2004. Members asked questions about Mark's experience while filming the STAR WARS trilogy.

Is it true that the climatic words spoken on set were not, 'I am your father,' but something else? If so, what did [David] Prowse say?

"Obi-Wan killed your father!" It was misinformation to throw off the secret leaking out, which it did. Within 10 days, it was in one of the British tabloids, 'Guinness Head Baddie In SW 2.' I was so delighted to have misinformation leak out. It was impossible to keep a secret, which is a shame because it was such a part of the experience.

Was it tricky having Vader swipe at your hand and have it go flying off without hitting your real hand? How many takes did you have to do?

Well, they molded my hand holding the lightsaber, which was tricked up on a spring-loaded trigger, and my sleeve was made longer to cover my real hand. By positioning it creatively, I could "shoot off" my hand. It took several takes so that it didn't look comical. There were also fans going, so it was really loud while we were filming.

What's your favorite deleted scene from the trilogy?

My original entrance. I'm the only character who doesn't have it shown in the film. Originally, Luke is working out in the field, and he rushes to the teen club to tell his friends he's witnessed a battle in space. The reason I think the scene is important is that you realize Luke is not a popular figure among his peers. They sort of made fun of him. Additionally, I think what was important storywise is that he didn't have a political affiliation. Luke was just as anxious to join the Empire as he was to join the Rebellion.

Did Sir Alec Guinness really slap you in a friendly way for addressing him as "Sir"?

Yes! He did tap-tap-slap! He then said, 'I want to be known by my name, not my accolades.' So I said, 'Do you want me to call you Big Al?' And he loved that! He loved irreverence.

Were the lightsabers hard to fight with? They look pretty heavy in the original trilogy.

George made a stylistic choice during the first trilogy and changed his mind when he began the second. For Episode IV through VI, we had to re-choreograph a lot of the fight scenes so that we kept the lightsaber in two hands. George said, 'It's heavy, really heavy, like in Excalibur,' which limited what we could do onscreen, despite Peter Diamond, Bob Anderson and I arguing that we had it all worked out. When we showed what we had done, George still said we had to change it. We were a bit jealous when we saw what the new crew could do with a lightsaber in the Prequels.

Did you get to keep anything, such as a prop, from the STAR WARS films?

I did. I asked if I could keep certain things from the first one. I kept my boots and the stormtrooper helmet I wore when I rescued the Princess. I think I kept my lightsaber from Empire, and they made a miniature Luke costume for Nathan, who was just a toddler then. Usually, I tried to keep one prop, even something small like a shirt or a pair of glasses, from each project. I always ask. I don't just run off with them.

Getting the stormtrooper helmet through customs was interesting. They're not as well constructed, incidentally, as the commercial-made props because they were only meant to last six months. And I don't keep anything at my house, as a heads up to all potential burglars.

How did you like talking to a puppet?

I'm proud of the fact that most of the reviewers never mentioned Yoda was a puppet. He was just so real to me, even when reading the script. I remember thinking I couldn't wait to do scenes with him because Yoda was so deep spiritually yet presented in such an unusual package.

Frank Oz was very complimentary in telling me that if I didn't believe I was talking to a living entity no one would believe it. I think he may have overstated that fact. Keep in mind that whenever Yoda is not in the shot, I'm talking to a piece of adhesive tape on a stick. When not in use, they'd rush the puppet over to Stuart Freeborne's lab to work on it.

Did you do your own stunts? If so, which ones were the most difficult?

I did all of them except the one that the insurance company wouldn't let me do, which was going through the glass in Empire. The stunt people said I could (perform the stunt) - it was candy glass, after all - and I wanted to.

I remember the swordfight in Empire being the most grueling thing. It took weeks to shoot, and no matter how much choreography you do, you end up being scraped and bumped and cut. I remember my wife, Marilou, taking pictures of my legs the night after a shoot. They looked like a relief map of Venezuela.

The things that scared me the most, however, were the firearms: Even with blanks, those things could be dangerous.

STAR WARS Insider, September 2004, Chat Excerpt