The Star Wars Celebration took place last week, and the OG Star Wars stars Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher came out to talk to the fans in anticipation of The Force Awakens opening this Christmas.
As the L.A. Times reports, Hamill felt he was “drafted” to be in The Force Awakens. “It’s not, like, a choice. Can you imagine if for some reason I said that I don’t think I want to do it? It would have all of you surrounding my house like villagers in a Frankenstein picture. Angry villagers with lightsabers instead of torches. I’d sort of be like the most hated person in fandom.”
Hamill recalled Lucas asking him to lunch, and the actor said to his wife, “George asked me to lunch. It’s something big going on.” But when his wife suggested Lucas may be doing another trilogy, Hamill laughed. He also recalled his story had a beginning, middle and end. What else could be done?
Then Lucas gave him the ultimatum: “If you don’t want to be in it, we won’t recast. We’ll write you out of it.”
Hamill also confessed he had reservations about JJ Abrams. “I was like, ‘Wait a second, that Star Trek guy?’ Listen, I like Star Trek…there’s no rivalry, but I jut thought it seems odd. Not that I was predisposed to dislike him. I was just cautious about it.”
Now that the film has wrapped and is getting ready for release, Hamill said, “This film is the first Star Wars film that is actually in the hands of someone who grew out of fandom…” After his initial suspicions wore off, Hamill found Abrams, “really easy to talk to. He’s loveable. What can I say?”
Lastly Hamill told the Times he was afraid of saying anything accidentally that would spoil The Force Awakens. “I don’t even know if I’m allowed to tell people I’m in the movie.”
