Earlier today we brought you a promotional image for Disney World’s Star Wars Weekends featuring a lightsaber-wielding Mark Hamill alongside Disney mascot Mickey Mouse, and now we have some comments from Hamill about returning to a galaxy far, far away for the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII more than thirty years after he last donned the Jedi robes as Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi:
“In my mind, there was a beginning, and a middle and an end for me and my association with George’s trilogy. It was firmly in the past. When the prequels came out, I watched from a distance, but I was totally fine,” Hamill tells The Orlando Sentinel, before going on to discuss his preparation for Episode VII. “It was firmly in the past. When the prequels came out, I watched from a distance, but I was totally fine… I’ve altered my diet. I’ve started working out. There’s that. But on the film itself: I toured the departments, I’ve looked at wardrobe, and I saw the creature shop. I went around and met all the cast people, saw the technicians working on some new things. I hadn’t seen Tony Daniels or Carrie [Fisher] or Harrison [Ford] or Peter Mayhew in ages. … I was wonderful to see them again, because I didn’t expect to. Again, this is all so unexpected. It’s like getting out that pair of pants you haven’t worn in five years and finding a 20-dollar bill in the pocket. Oh, this is nice.”
Hamill then went on to admit that one of the factors in his return to Star Wars was fans of the saga, stating that: “I’m aware that a lot of people don’t care one way or another, but for the UPFs – the ultra passionate fans – they would come after me like the angry townspeople with torches in the old Frankenstein pictures. I would have a lot to answer for if I didn’t at least try to make the effort. It’s not like I had a choice. I feel like I was called up for service by the Selective Service. I haven’t seen those movies since they were in movie theaters. I don’t watch them on home theater or DVD. There are people who are far more expert in it than I am. They know more, way more, about them than I do, and they care more. … You don’t have to love them, but I am surprised sometimes at how vehemently they get if they’re not satisfied, which is scary. I have this feeling that no matter what we do there’s going to be a faction that really is disappointed. You just can’t live up to that. Any kind of reunion type endeavor, whatever it is … you can never go home again.”
Star Wars: Episode VII is set for release on December 18th 2015, with Hamill joined by returning stars Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Kenny Baker (R2-D2) and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) joined by Adam Driver (Girls), Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis), Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Domhnall Gleeson (Dredd), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Silent Witness), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) and Max von Sydow (The Exorcist).
