Mark Hamill About Star Wars: "Hope For The Best, But Expect The Worst"

Even though Solo: A Star Wars Story is on the horizon and The Last Jedi a hazy memory of the past already, there’s still some promo work for the latest trilogy movie. For the European disc release of The Last Jedi Mark Hamill did some promotion work in Ireland and gave interviews. French magazine Le Point published their interview with Mark Hamill yesterday. And Mark Hamill had a few things to say about The Last Jedi and Star Wars in general. Click through to read about it.

The author of this article hard at work

First of all, the interview is in French, there’s no official translation available and I translated Hamill’s statements using Google Translate and my basic French language skills, I speak a little, read a little more than I speak and I translated the statements to the best of my and most of all Google’s ability.

In the article the interviewer points out that Mark Hamill looks exhausted and that the alotted time for the interview was shortened. But he did answer a few questions and once more gave his opinion on a few things.

The interview mentions that Hamill was shocked after his first viewing of The Last Jedi, then the article goes on and says that Hamill backpedaled a bit a few weeks later, but for this interview he reaffirms his position once more and has this to say about Luke Skywalker’s fate in The Last Jedi:

“It’s not just me. The fans would have wanted Luke’s fate to take another direction. I like being out of my comfort zone, but that was pretty extreme.“

The article continues and says:

Hamill admits that it was difficult to respect Johnson’s wishes because he feels, in a way, a “feeling of ownership” for Luke. “It’s hard. Fans have had such diverse reactions ranging from Star Wars 8 to being the best Star Wars of all time to ruining my childhood. But understand that I am only the assistant cook. The director creates the recipe, and I just run it as best I can so everyone thinks it’s the best thing you’ve ever had. The current trilogy is about the new generation” he says. “It always reflects an era. The movies say it: we must forget the past, kill it if you must.” You do not have to be an expert psychologist to understand that the actor does not really adhere to this vision of things.

Mark Hamill liked Rogue One but has one advice for Disney: they should slow down on the release schedule for the movies or else they might oversaturate the fans.

And finally Mark Hamill reveals that he still speaks regularlay to George Lucas:

“It will never be the same again without him. When I have George on the phone, we are talking about the 7th and the 8th movie. But I will not betray his trust and I will keep what he tells me confidential. I’m sure it was very hard for him to let go of his creation, just as it is for me to be part of something when he is no longer our guide. But you have to roll with the punches and hope for the best. Hope for the best, but expect the worst.“

I bet that many fans wonder what George Lucas and Mark Hamill say when they talk about Episodes 7 and 8. Maybe one day we fill find out. We may all guess for now and have our own theories about what they think.

What are your thoughts? Do you feel, in light of some other interviews by Hamill in the recent past, that he has distanced himself from Star Wars and wouldn’t even mind that much if Episode IX does not feature him? Mark Hamill, especially in this interview, comes across as really disillusioned and you can tell he’s more than unhappy about how things worked out for the three original core characters in the new movies. Which pretty much reflects what a considerable number of fans feels too.

The article also reveals Hamill’s opinion on professional autograph hunters who sell the signed photo or merchandise on ebay – he wish he could tell the real fans apart from them and that he feels like he’s taken prisoner by these people.
He also talks about visiting Harrison Ford in his dressing room during the filming of The Force Awakens all the time and the fun they had. And he briefly mentions his infatuation with Carrie Fisher when he was young. Read it all in the original article!

Original French source on Le Point Website.

English Google Translation of the Interview. Note: the translation is wrong sometimes, especially the quote about having to roll with the punches was translated as “you have to cash in” which is completely wrong! I used the correct translation for the French idiom for the article.

If some French speaking reader here might give a shot at properly translating the relevant passages of the article, feel free to post it in the comments or email the translation and I will update the article!

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