The 92nd Academy Awards occurred on Sunday night and, as always, featured a touching tribute to the people in Hollywood who passed away in the last year. The moment featured Billie Eilish singing “Yesterday” and included big names such as Rip Torn, Kobe Bryant, Doris Day, and Peter Fonda. Another person we lost last year was Peter Mayhew, the man best known for playing Chewbacca in the Star Wars franchise. The actor returned one last time to play Chewie in Star Wars: The Force Awakens before Joonas Suotamo officially took over the role. After the Oscars featured Mayhew in their In Memoriam segment, Suotamo took to Twitter to share more kind words about his mentor.
“I was glad the #Oscars honored my dear mentor, predecessor, & friend Peter Mayhew. The Star Wars family will remember him for the greatness of his spirit & I’ll always cherish our time collaborating on The Force Awakens as we sought to bring back Chewbacca to a new generation,” Suotamo wrote.
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You can check out the post below:
I was glad the #Oscars honored my dear mentor, predecessor, & friend Peter Mayhew. The Star Wars family will remember him for the greatness of his spirit & I’ll always cherish our time collaborating on The Force Awakens as we sought to bring back Chewbacca to a new generation. pic.twitter.com/PC6xS6XI8r
— Joonas Suotamo (@JoonasSuotamo) February 10, 2020
While Mayhew was one of the people honored on Sunday, a few big names were left out of the segment, which angered many people online. The missing names included Luke Perry, Cameron Boyce, and Sid Haig. Perry was especially surprising considered he was featured in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, which was nominated for Best Picture as well as multiple other awards. Yesterday, the Oscars addressed the decision by releasing a statement:
“The Academy receives hundreds of requests to include loved ones and industry colleagues in the Oscars In Memoriam segment. An executive committee representing every branch considers the list and makes selections for the telecast based on limited available time,” the Academy said in a statement. “All the submissions are included on Oscar.com and will remain on the site throughout the year. Luke Perry and Cameron Boyce are remembered in the Oscar.com gallery.”
You can currently catch Suotamo on the big screen in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
