Mark Hamill Talks Star Wars: The Force Awakens

[RoadWarrior]

The launch of the first teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens focused on the newer members of the ensemble for J.J. Abrams’ film - John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac. Noticeably absent were any of the original starring trio including Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. But as Hamill explains, that was by design.

“This is about the new generation of characters; I think that’s the most important thing,” he tells Yahoo Movies. “It’s the opening act of a whole new approach to the storytelling. So I never thought that the stories would be – first of all, I never thought I’d be involved in it again, period. And then when George Lucas said that they wanted to do more, I rightly assumed that it wouldn’t be our story, because we had a beginning, a middle, and an end. This must be our offspring and the current generation, with us there lending the kind of support that Peter Cushing and Alec Guinness did in the original. So no, that didn’t surprise me. And I mean, I’m one of those people where I just think, ‘Keep me out of it. I’ll ruin it, I’m sure!’ I’ll show up and just ruin the whole thing.”

While we’re not sure we agree with that statement – who doesn’t want to see Luke Skywalker taking on more of a mentor role for the new characters, especially since Abrams made him grow a crop of face fuzz for the role? “That is what I call my contractually obligated beard,” he laughs. “Listen: I think they look fine on other people. It’s just not me. I mean, I never got used to it. But face foliage is almost a part of the costume. And it does bring a gravitas, perhaps unearned, but nevertheless, it makes a statement that they wanted to make, and I’m more than happy to oblige them.”

One of the more talked-about elements of the new trailer is the ball droid, whom we now know is called BB-8. According to Hamill, he’s not a CG creation. “They never cease to amaze me with what they’re able to come up with, you know? I said, ‘How are you ever gonna top R2-D2, the most adorable droid in movie history?’ And then they have this new one. And when they were demonstrating how they did this thing, live on set — because it’s not CGI, that’s a live prop — I was just amazed. They let me play around with it. I was running it all around at the creature shop up in Pinewood. I’m telling you, it’s an absolute delight. And not having thought that I’d ever go back there, to go back into that world, is just – I get the chills. It’s just so much fun.” For more from Hamill, head to Yahoo.

In case you’ve forgotten, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is out on December 18 next year.