Star Wars: Mark Hamill Reveals Famous Cast Photo Was Created With Photoshop

Before he returned to the Galaxy far, far away with Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens and its sequels, Mark Hamill mad a return to the galaxy in a way that was very much in-keeping with franchise tradition…from a certain point of view. Ahead of the release of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, the Vanity Fair cover shoot for the film took place and united the casts of the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy. As a result this instance made some assume that all those present had met, as one fan on Twitter did when it was revealed that Hamill has never met his on-screen mother, Natalie Portman.

“NOT-SO-FUN FACT: Due to scheduling difficulties, Annie Liebovitz shot me all alone on that set & photoshopped me into the group later,” Hamill said, setting the record straight that while a group photoshoot took place, he wasn’t present. The actor also revealed that he still hasn’t had the opportunity to meet Portman and has it on his “2020 To-Do list.”

Other Star Wars cast members present for the photoshoot that Hamill missed included Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Anthony Daniels, Samuel L. Jackson, Jimmy Smits, Christopher Lee, Liam Neeson, Pernilla August, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid, Billy Dee Williams, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Peter Mayhew. Even fictional characters appeared including Yoda, Darth Vader, R2-D2, Jar Jar Binks, and General Grievous (though some perhaps added in by photoshop means as well).

Hamill’s time with the Star Wars franchise seemingly came to an end with last year’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which wrapped up the proper Skywalker Saga as a whole. The actor penned a heartfelt letter about his time in the franchise which was included the Star Wars Skywalker Saga 4k blu-ray box set, writing “What an extraordinary journey it’s been.” you can read the full letter yourself by clicking here.

The next three movies in the Star Wars franchise already have release dates from the studio, arriving on December 16, 2022, December 20, 2024, and December 18, 2026. Though it’s unclear what these movies will be, or who will be the talent behind them but The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson remains in talks to develop a trilogy of films. In addition, Marvel producer Kevin Feige is developing a project while Sleight director J. D. Dillard and Luke Cage writer Matt Owens are working on another.