Star Wars Episode VII's Mark Hamill on Returning as Luke: It's Not Like I Had a Choice
Ahead of his first appearance at Star Wars Weekends, franchise star Mark Hamill told the Orlando [...]
Ahead of his first appearance at Star Wars Weekends, franchise star Mark Hamill told the Orlando Sentinel that he felt obligated to return as Luke Skywalker.
"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," Hamill said of his decision to join Episode VII. "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."
He also talked a bit about spoilers, set photos and other challenges presented by the Internet that George Lucas and company didn't have to deal with in the '70s and '80s.
While, yes, J.J. Abrams is directing the film, Hamill told the Sentinel that avoiding spoilers isn't intended as an elaborate game, as some had accused the director during Star Trek Into Darkness.
"This is a whole different world … The first one, no one cared," Hamill said. "The second one there was a lot of interest, but it was before the Internet. … I tell people we're not trying to annoy you or tease you or play some massive game. Basically what the goal is to keep the surprises for the movie instead of spoiling them on the Internet."
Star Wars: Episode VII stars Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and new cast members, too. It opens in the U.S. on December 18, 2015.
