Mark Hamill Vows Not To Talk About New Star Wars Movies

You certainly remember Mark Hamill’s remarks about The Last Jedi. How he was less than happy about the choices Rian Johnson made for the character of Luke Skywalker. Most famous is Mark Hamill’s remark that his character in The Last Jedi was not the Luke we know, but “Jake Skywalker”, someone else. Expect much less of these remarks leading up to Episode IX, however. In a recent interview Mark says that he vowed not to talk about the movies anymore, because it got him into trouble. Read more after the jump!

Mark Hamill talked to Den of Geek about his role in the second season of Knightfall (a History Channel series about the Templar Order in the 14th century). But it was almost inevitable for some of the questions and remarks to turn to Star Wars. And Mark Hamill had a few things to say.

This is what Mark said about his remarks on The Last Jedi:

‘The thing is, Luke changed so much between the first trilogy and the last trilogy. I got myself into trouble. I made a vow – I said that I’m not going to talk about the movies anymore, because I think it’s important for the audience to see them. My problem was, I wasn’t dealing with social media back then, where you say something and it goes around the world in 24 hours! If I were to answer your questions on paper, I’d think: oh, that sounds a little strong, or, I shouldn’t say this. But I have a tendency just to talk and talk and talk, and you can cherrypick. You know, I’ll be reading something, and say, “What moron said this?”, and then realise, “Oh, it’s me.” They can take selective comments you’ve made out of context and use it to support their argument: “See, Mark hated Star Wars!” “Did I?”

He goes on:

“I was once describing Star Wars fans, and I said, they’re passionate, they’re opinionated, and they feel a sense of ownership, because they’ve invested so much time in these characters and these stories, and I realised I was describing myself. It can get you into trouble, because I don’t control the storylines. I’m sort of like a musician. I read the music, and I try to play it to the best of my ability. That doesn’t necessarily mean I like the tune, but that’s not my job.”

And this is how Mark felt about the fact that there was no scene with Han, Leia and Luke in the sequel trilogy:

“I just thought, Luke’s never going to see his best friend again. You look at it in a self-centred way. I said that it was a big mistake that those three people would never reunite in any way. I guess I was wrong, because nobody seems to care! I have to stipulate that I care, but it didn’t really seem to affect the larger audience. Luke, Han and Leia will never be together again, and I’ll probably never get to work with Harrison again. Then the second thing was that they killed me off. I thought: oh, okay, you should push my death off to the last one. That’s what I was hoping when I came back: no cameos and a run-of-the-trilogy contract. Did I get any of those things? Because as far as I’m concerned, the end of VII is really the beginning of VIII. I got one movie! They totally hornswoggled me.”

Mark also has an opinion on Solo’s release schedule:

“In our day, it was three years apart. Now they’re two years apart, with an independent movie (Rogue One, Solo) in between. I say to the executives at Disney, “Really? Han Solo five months after our movie? Give it a rest!” They say, well, we have to keep the schedule clear for Mary Poppins.’ He feigns outrage. ‘But I can be mouthy, because you know, what are they gonna do, fire me?”

And some remarks about how the sequels are about the new generation:

“Listen, I never expected to come back. We had a beginning, a middle, and an end. That’s what I said: why mess with it? It’s not something that worries me, because it’s all about the new generation, as it should be.”

Finally, Mark recounts once more how he changed the script on set when Luke just walked by C-3PO on Crait without acknowledging him:

‘They had me walking by 3PO, not even acknowledging him. I said: “I can’t do that! He (The Last Jedi’s director, Rian Johnson) said, “Okay, go over and do whatever.” So I went over, and I did whatever. They say it in the script: “Forget the past, kill it if you have to”, and they’re doing a pretty good job!”

In essence, Mark didn’t reveal any new things really, but it’s always interesting to read again how Mark feels about his role and the movies. The one thing that might raise eyebrows among fans is Mark’s remark on how he got into trouble for speaking his mind on The Last Jedi. He doesn’t elaborate what kind of trouble that was. Did Disney knock on his door with a picture of his pet crossed out? Or, more likely, they kindly reminded him that he is supposed to promote the movie?

Anyway, if Mark keeps his vow we should hear much less from him and his thoughts about Episode IX once the marketing starts. Let’s see if Mark actually keeps his vow. I do think Mark is mistaken however, when he says that no one cares about the three original heroes not sharing a scene together.

All in all, it seems Mark has made his peace with the new movies, his character in the sequels and how things are handled and done in the new movies. He is right, after all, he is just the actor, not the creator, he is the one who, not unlike a session musician, helps realize the vision of someone else. And that he did. His performance in The Last Jedi was great. But even so, you can’t help but get the impression that Mark still feels wistful about missed opportunities and wished things had turned out somewhat differently. But as he said, the new movies are about the new generation.

And let’s hope for a satisfying conclusion of Rey’s, Kylo’s and Luke’s story with Episode IX!

Please check out the full article and interview on Den of Geek, Mark Hamill also talks in detail about his upcoming role in Knightfall, it’s well worth a read!

• RIP Greg Hildebrandt
• Weekend Fun: Reva Edition
• James Earl Jones, THE Voice of Darth Vader, Dead At 93
• The Disney D23 Studio Showcase
• Do Star Wars Fans Settle For Less Too Often?
• Disclosure Policy