Mark Hamill begged George Lucas to remove this line from the very first film in the legendary star-studded saga…
There is no doubt: Luke Skywalker is one of the most famous heroes in the history of science fiction – and of course in the history of Star Wars quite simply. The character forever marked Mark Hamill’s life and career.
The actor, now 72 years old, first signed on to play him in 1977 in A New Hope (and its sequels) before returning to his character more than 30 years later in the latest trilogy – or “Skywalker saga” – started with The Force Awakens in 2015. He will also appear in The Mandalorian in 2019.
But at the end of the 70s, when Star Wars was in its infancy, Luke Skywalker and his young interpreter had not yet entered the history of cinema, nor that of pop culture. And yet Mark Hamill dared to say no to George Lucas, begging him to remove a line that was part of the original script.
This is in an interview dating from 1977, on the set of Tonight Show Johnny Carsonthat the young man revealed this anecdote.
“The dialogues were difficult. I remember there was a line that I just begged him to take out of the script, and he finally did. My God, I will never forget it as long as I live. Sometimes I dream of this line.”
In the line in question, Luke Skywalker was speaking to Han Solo (played by Harrison Ford) after the destruction of the planet Alderaan by Imperial forces, using the Death Star.
He continued, reciting the particularly complicated dialogue: “Harrison says, ‘Look, kid, I’ve done my part of the bargain. When I get to an asteroid, you, the old man and the droids come down.’ And my response was: ‘But we can’t go back, fear is their greatest defense, I doubt the real security there is any greater than it was on Aquilae or Sullust and that that there is is most likely headed for a large-scale attack.’”
Mark Hamill had then read and reread this dialogue but was consumed by its improbability and its stiffness. The idea was for his character to recite the sentence quickly and, given the complexity of its construction, he cracked: “I thought, ‘Who talks like that, George?’ It’s really not fair, because you know we’re the ones who are going to have vegetables thrown at us. Not you !”
Check out Mark Hamill talking about it below:
Ultimately, the director listened to the young star of his film and removed the line: together, they created one of the most famous and beloved films – and sagas – of all time. What would be interesting to know if today, Mark Hamill still remembers the sentence that gave him nightmares!
The entire Star Wars saga can be found on Disney+.