Joseph Gordon-Levitt has defended how Luke Skywalker was portrayed in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
There is a large group of fans who don’t like the way Mark Hamill’s Luke was behaving in the film, noting that he is quite different from the heroic young man they remember from the original trilogy. Although Luke pulls off quite a feat at the film’s end, this isn’t enough to convince many fans.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, fan of the franchise and an actor that’s been in every one of Rian Johnson’s films, including The Last Jedi in a miniscule voice role as the Canto Bight character Slowen-Lo, feels rather passionately about the subject and has defended Luke’s appearance.
In lengthy article, the actor has said: “I want to be really clear, this is just my own opinion, and in no way do I carry any special authority on this movie,” Gordon-Levitt admitted. “I’m probably biased in its favor, but then again, we’re all biased somehow, so there’s that.
“For so many of us, Luke is the epitome of a hero. He is what we strive to be. He’s also our access point into a world we love. We got to know Star Wars through the eyes of this character. And now, after all this time, we finally get to see him again, and he sorta sucks as a person. He’s disrespecting everything a Jedi is supposed to stand for. Ultimately it feels like he’s disrespecting us. Or, as some fans concluded, this just isn’t the real Luke Skywalker, but rather a bastardization perpetrated by bad storytelling or corporate interests.
“Leaving Luke unchanged would have been a huge missed opportunity. Think about how rare this is. A trilogy of movies is made with a young protagonist played by an actor in his 20s. Then, no fewer than 40 YEARS LATER (A New Hope came out in 1977) this actor gets to play the same character as an older man. I don’t know how many times that has ever happened in the history of movies. Has it ever happened?
“No one is a perfect hero or a perfect villain, we’re more complicated than that, every one of us. Flawless characters feel thin. And forgive me if I blaspheme, but the young Luke Skywalker always did feel just a little light to me, which is why it was so cool this time around to see him fill out into a more imperfect human being.”
JGL also went on to say that seeing Luke in such a low place early on in the film, allowed for a more compelling character arc as we approach the end of the film.
You can read more from JGL’s essay here.
SEE ALSO: Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson hopes that Luke Skywalker will return in Episode IX
SEE ALSO: Rian Johnson explains the absence of the Knights of Ren in Star Wars: The Last Jedi
In Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of The Force Awakens join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi sees returning cast members Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix), Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke), Peter Mayhew and Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca), Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar), Mike Quinn (Nien Nunb) and Warwick Davis joined by new additions Jimmy Vee (Pan) as R2-D2, Kelly Marie Tran (Ladies Like Us) as Rose, Benicio Del Toro (Guardians of the Galaxy) as DJ and Laura Dern (Jurassic Park) as Vice Admiral Holdo.
