While Star Wars has introduced a number of fan favorites, few hold more clout in the universe than Luke Skywalker. As fans know Luke is played by Mark Hamill, and at Star Wars Celebration creator George Lucas revealed why he picked him for the role.
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Lucas said “We did a lot of testing for a year, a year of sitting in a little room, talking to actors every five minutes, weeding those out…We went on and then we did screen tests. We did screen tests with all the finalists for three main characters and we would mix them. I think we had maybe two or three of each of you and you would each test with another person. We found the combination of the group that worked the best together. The group that was ready to be an ensemble and played it as old friends. I was trying to get that even though they start out not knowing each other. I wanted to have the chemistry built in. That, and the fact that he was shorter than I was.”
Height aside, Hamill turned out to be the perfect avatar for fans to discover this universe through, and fans are just as excited about the character all these years later. Hamill is reprising his role as Skywalker in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which currently has a 3.89 out of 5 on ComicBook.com’s anticipation rankings. He briefly appeared at the end of Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, where Rey starts to hand him his old lightsaber. You can find the synopsis below.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi, from writer/director Rian Johnson, is in post-production now for a December 15, 2017, release. The film follows-up and continues the story of the next generation of the saga as Rey, Poe, Finn, and Kylo Ren find their place in the galaxy and follow the legacy of Luke Skywalker, Leia, and Han Solo. Daisy Ridley returns to star as Rey, with other returning stars John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Peter Mayhew, Andy Serkis, Anthony Daniels, Lupita Nyong’o Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa. Benicio Del Toro and Laura Dern join the cast in as-yet-unrevealed roles.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is slated for release on December 15, 2017.
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