Mark Hamill had it fairly easy for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, simply having to turn around, lower his hood, and exhibit virtually the entire range of emotions whilst staring at Daisy Ridley’s Rey for what seemed like an eternity.
However, things are going to be a little different this December as Luke Skywalker takes centre stage in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Hamill has been chatting to Disney Insider about returning to his iconic role, during which he revealed that Luke’s backstory between Return of the Jedi and the Sequel Trilogy isn’t going to be relevant in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
“The biggest challenge for me was actually in the time between Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I had to know what had happened to Luke during those years. I had to glean decades of backstory from the script. And some of it I had to make up for myself. I had to know what he went through during that time. It’s not important to the storyline for this film, but I did discuss some of my thoughts with [writer/director] Rian Johnson to make sure I wasn’t coming up with anything in my personal backstory that would affect Luke’s portrayal in this film.”
Hamill has recently clarified that Luke hasn’t turned to the Dark Side prior to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which would of course be pretty important to the storyline had that been the case. However, if his backstory isn’t relevant to The Last Jedi, that might mean we don’t learn too much more about Kylo Ren’s betrayal in this new film, or Rey’s history for that matter (assuming Luke has some involvement there). Let’s hope he survives through to Episode IX if that is the case so we can find out what he’s been up to all these years.
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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 is set for release on December 14th in the UK and December 15th in the States and 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), Simon Pegg (Unkar Plutt), and Warwick Davis joined by new additions Jimmy Vee (Pan) as R2-D2, Kelly Marie Tran (Ladies Like Us) as Rose, and Benicio Del Toro (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Laura Dern (Jurassic Park).
Originally published November 8, 2017. Updated November 9, 2017.
