UPDATE! Mark Hamill Talks The Force Awakens Teaser Trailer, New Cast, Harrison Ford, the BB-8 Prop and More.

Mark-HamillWhile discussing his latest role, in this week’s new NBC stop-motion animation special, Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas, Hamill shared his opinion on TFA teaser trailer as well as some other bits about the new movie…

 

From IGN:

IGN: The past two weeks, have you been able to just sit back, smile and enjoy how much speculation people can have about an 88 second trailer?

 

Hamill: Oh my gosh. You know, I’ll tell you, the most moving aspect of them releasing that trailer was watching a video of other people watching it. My daughter put it on for me. It was all these people watching the trailer. Sometimes you get sort of isolated and disconnected because I don’t really follow it as closely as, say, [my son] Nathan does, but to see those people that thrilled, it was moving to me. I actually got a lump in my throat watching that. To see so many people that happy was a thrill. And it’s hard to believe it’s a whole year away that we have to wait but I’m practicing my phrase, “You have to wait and see.” They asked me not to talk about it and I agreed but it’s hard. People want to know!

 

Table Read

IGN: With the trailer focusing on the new cast, like Daisy [Ridley] and John [Boyega], are you just thinking, “Wait until you see what they’re in store for?”, having gone through all this before?
Hamill: I know! I felt that the minute I met all of them. They’re all wonderful actors. I think they’ve done such a great job of not only the characters themselves, but the people they’ve picked to play them. John Boyega is just wonderful and Daisy, I just think the world of and Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac and Andy Serkis. They’re just… Like I say, this is in very, very good hands. I’m vicariously very proud of them even though I have no justification for being able to be proud!

 

Hamill also shared his opinion on spoilers. For the full interview go to IGN.

 

 

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In another interview, this time with E Online Hamill shared even more:

 

On the Big Three reunion:

“They had a dinner at a restaurant for us,” Hamill said. “They booked a room at a restaurant where we all met the new cast members. The three of us came together. In many ways, it was an out-of-body experience, but within the first five minutes, it felt like we had never been apart…We were all laughing and it was like we were on a break during The Empire Strikes Back.”

On being in another Star Wars film:

“It was the last thing in the world that I ever expected to happen,” he said. “We had a beginning, a middle and an end. I was able to let go.”

 

“I was nervous when the prequels came out,” Hamill continued. “Would it be like a bunch of strangers rummaging through my toy box? Like, ‘Hey, that’s my light saber, that’s my droid, get away from my floating car.’ But by the time the prequels came out I was surprisingly well-adjusted.”

 

 

UPDATE!

 

Mark Hamill also spoke with Yahoo Movies and revealed even more interesting bits:

 

From YahooMovies:

 

On his beard:

Yes. That is what I call my contractually obligated beard. 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.

 

mark-hamill-carrie-fisher-harrison-ford11

On the Big Three absence from the trailer:

This is about the new generation of characters; I think that’s the most important thing. 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. 

I don’t want that pressure! It’s too much pressure! You know, because I said to George, “Have you really thought this through? Because maybe it’s not such a great idea.” But I had a feeling, I said, “You know what – if there’s a weak link, if Carrie [Fisher] or Harrison [Ford] decides they don’t want to do it, there’s an out. Because it’s all or nothing. It should be all of us or none of us.” So I was ready to go either way. And now that we’re all in, we’ll see what happens.

 

On Harrison Ford:

Well, you know, he was someone that was unpredictable. I hadn’t seen him in years; I didn’t know what his feelings were. I know he’s sometimes grown impatient with people that don’t want to focus on what he’s doing currently and want to go stroll down memory lane. God knows, I’m used to that sort of thing. But who knew? And for him to jump back in so enthusiastically, I was delighted. It’s a wonderful character. Everybody loves Han Solo.

 

BB-8

On BB-8:

I’m sure he loved the new little droid that’s a rolling ball. I’m sure he wants it under the tree this Christmas. 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. I can’t even tell you his name, but you saw it in the trailer. [Editor’s note: the name of the droid has been revealed as BB-8.] 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. [Laughs] 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 the full interview go to YahooMovies.

 

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Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.

Born on April 24, 1980.

Val Trichkov (Viral Hide)

Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

39 thoughts on “UPDATE! Mark Hamill Talks The Force Awakens Teaser Trailer, New Cast, Harrison Ford, the BB-8 Prop and More.

  • December 11, 2014 at 2:49 pm
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    I gotta say, Mark is my favorite Star Wars alum as of late…Luke was never my favorite as a kid; I was more of a Han Solo fan. But let’s face it, Harrison would take Indy over Solo any day. I still love the bulk of Ford’s work and a lot of the films/characters he has made over the years, but I’m coming to realize that Mark Hamill is a special breed. His rapport with the fans over the years just makes him the best in my book. I hope Luke goes into serious beast-mode in TFA. I’m excited to see how his character has changed over the years. Maybe old Luke will be my new fave character.

    • December 11, 2014 at 2:54 pm
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      Very well said. That’s exactly how I feel about this fella too. 🙂

    • December 11, 2014 at 3:31 pm
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      Hear, hear! Mark for legacy actor of the year!

    • December 11, 2014 at 4:03 pm
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      You just took this words from my mouth! Can´t agree more!

      • December 11, 2014 at 4:53 pm
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        I agreed!!! I felt he has a lot to show but not much opportunities were open to him. I am very glad to see him back as Luke and hopefully other film roles for him in future.

    • December 11, 2014 at 4:31 pm
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      I think Ford had to make a distance to star wars he din’t want to be the space cowboy forever. He wanted tomake moviea like regarding henry

      I have a feeling that Ford realy like Solo.

      Btw … .. …….

      …..

      • December 14, 2014 at 3:46 am
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        It’s funny because in the movie Regarding Henry J.J. Abrams play a Delivery Boy 🙂

    • December 11, 2014 at 8:06 pm
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      I have to say I will never understand the following sentiment:

      “Luke was never my favorite as a kid; I was more of a Han Solo fan.”

      Not to say I don’t love the Han Solo character, but if you idolize a non-Force user over a Force-user you might as well be watching something other than Star Wars.

      • December 12, 2014 at 6:16 pm
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        Read what you just wrote again and see how ridiculus you sound. Not only are you putting down the person who wrote those words and not respecting his say you actually are telling him he is now not worthy of being a star wars fan. I imagine if you were face to face with the person you wouldn’t say those things. I think you should apologize. Also your interest in star wars is probably getting a little out of hand, remember its a made up world.

        • December 12, 2014 at 11:39 pm
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          That was great. Thank you.

      • December 13, 2014 at 12:39 am
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        Amongst the many problems of the PT is the lack of a Han Solo type character.

        When there are fifty characters on screen who all use light sabers and the force, it no longer feels special or mystical.

        In fact I have come to loathe how “convenient” the force is…

        “Master, Destroyers!” Fuck it, let’s use our “force speed”.

      • December 14, 2014 at 9:25 am
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        So you are saying that you HAVE to like a force user over a non force user to like Star Wars? A lot of people like the non force users just as much if not more than the force users. I realize that’s just your opinion but don’t tell someone that they might as well watch something else because their favorite character isn’t the same as yours.

  • December 11, 2014 at 3:36 pm
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    The Force is strong with this one.

    As a blonde hair white boy from the farm plains of Kansas, Luke Skywalker has always been my favorite Star Wars character.

    Mark Hamill is a stand up guy. You can tell he’s a genuine class act. I’m so excited to have Luke back in Star Wars. It’ll feel like he never left 🙂

  • December 11, 2014 at 4:14 pm
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    He looks in great health and strong in the photos, I`m glad to see this. Means we are in for a great trilogy, if his character survives the story line. In a non-gay way I think in the last photo below he`s got excellent fighting arms and looks relatively athletic for his age. Hope we get to see some new light saber fighting techniques from him. If I`m not mistaken there are many fighting techniques with different names. Off topic I hope they don`t mess up expectations with a evil win over good, just for a shock story twist.

    • December 11, 2014 at 4:51 pm
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      T’would be cool to see like his own Luke style + 30 years of experience.

      • December 14, 2014 at 9:28 am
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        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89bnQF5IxDA

        This is just a fan film, but I think these guys did a rather swell job at portraying what Luke would fight like 30+ years after RoTJ. I would be happy to see Luke fight in a manner similar to this or even better.

  • December 11, 2014 at 6:04 pm
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    Does anyone know how much weight he actually lost, or what his routine was like? I’m really interested, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of info out there.

    • December 13, 2014 at 3:46 am
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      about 40 pounds was the rumor

  • December 11, 2014 at 6:19 pm
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    Can’t wait to see him playing both luke skywalker and trickster again next year

  • December 11, 2014 at 7:59 pm
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    It’s great to hear Mark’s enthusiasm. This quote got me a little misty-eyed:

    “The three of us came together. In many ways, it was an out-of-body experience, but within the first five minutes, it felt like we had never been apart…We were all laughing and it was like we were on a break during The Empire Strikes Back.”

    I think next December will be surreal for many of us.

  • December 11, 2014 at 8:39 pm
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    I caught this on IGN last night…thought about submitting it here but decided fuck it instead. Luke has always been my SW hero hands down. Hamill is just an all-around down to earth cool cat.

    I like how he basically and nonchalantly shits on the notion of spoilers and spoiler culture. He basically calls it assclownery haha but he’s so cool in saying it.

  • December 11, 2014 at 9:02 pm
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    Hamill is the man, as I always loved him more then Han as a kid. Of course when I got older I gravitated to Han more because of his coolness, but Luke will be the reason Star Wars is what it is.

    I would have loved to be in that room at dinner where Ford, Fisher and Hamill walk in to meet the new cast.

    I also love that EVERY cast member is almost giddy when they talk about Episode 7. Sure, they are always going to hype movies in interviews, but you get a general sense that the ST cast is having a much better time then the PT cast did.

  • December 11, 2014 at 11:02 pm
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    Mark was very typecast by Luke, in a way that Harrison was not..if you watch the OT, Mark was actually the much better actor, but did not have the ‘hunky’ good looks of Ford the ladies loved so much. It will be great to see him get a second go-round as a battle-scarred old Luke!

    • December 12, 2014 at 11:45 pm
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      Poor Mark’s job was 100% more difficult than Harrison. “The force is strong in my family. My father has it. I have it, and my sister has it”. I really don’t know how Mark got through most of his lines trying to make them sound like realistic conversation. Harrison had the easiest job out of the three. He just had to look cool and be snarky and yell at everybody “Never tell me the odds!” Harrison isn’t particularly a good actor, he just has buckets of screen presence which is all that Han Solo needs, or Indiana Jones for that matter.

  • December 12, 2014 at 10:51 pm
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    Very encouraging to hear how enthusiastic Harrison was to jump back aboard this train.

  • December 12, 2014 at 11:12 pm
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    I’m blown away bb-8 is a prop, this is awesome!!!!!!

    • December 13, 2014 at 10:47 am
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      Yea amidst all the amazing mark hammil quotes and feeling like if he’s being so genuine and was so amazed I think we will be just as amazed or more…I almost didn’t take into account of how AWESOME it is that BB8 isn’t Cgi! That’s awesome. Makes me want to laugh at the commenters who bitched about him being obvious cgi, and must be as horrible as R2 being cgi’ed. People jump to conclusions so fast it’s refriggindiculous. Also part of the problem with our “culture” today. Soooo sarcastic, ugly, full of nastiness that’s unwarranted and quick to jump to all of the mentioned…it’s shameful.

      • December 14, 2014 at 9:32 am
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        I agree, I had the suspicion that the droid was real and not fake and thought that they just did a very good job at rendering and animating him. But, Mark’s statement prooves that he was real and explains how great he looks.

  • December 12, 2014 at 11:38 pm
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    I fucking love Mark. Criminally underrated actor.

  • December 12, 2014 at 11:39 pm
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    “because it’s not CGI, that’s a live prop”

    THANK YOU. I thought it was completely obvious that it was practical but I have been amazed at how many people think it’s CG. It’s a shame people don’t understand the potential of practical effects and just assume that anything that would be even slightly difficult to build, HAS to be CG. I’m still glad JJ has this approach. It will make the scenes with BB so much better to know that it’s real, like R2.

    • December 13, 2014 at 1:58 am
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      For me there were two giveaways… the highlight on the “eye” & the shadow cast from the top part onto the orb looked too convincing to be computer animated. I had thought that it was perhaps stop motion… if they actually built something like that which can move around on it’s own then I’m blown the f*** away.

  • December 12, 2014 at 11:57 pm
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    I had the honor of working with Mark on a movie a few years ago, he is a really down to earth guy and would openly talk about star wars with everyone… he’s just a really good guy, a complete joy to work with.

  • December 13, 2014 at 2:00 am
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    I’m a little concerned when he said that the trilogy will be about the young characters…. I mean I knew that… but I’m wondering if Luke, Han, & Leia all die in this movie?

  • December 13, 2014 at 2:01 am
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    (& I don’t know what He’s talking about with that beard… it’s totally him! He shoulda kept it!)

  • December 13, 2014 at 3:16 am
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    Mark says its like we were all on a break during The Empire Strikes Back.
    That seems interesting why he says that.
    Why mention Empire?
    As if he is touting the film in comparison.
    As if to say, you know the most admired one of the trilogy.
    I think he is merchandising the film, not being as candid as he was when contracts were over.
    And to push the… oh yeah, Harrison is all in.

  • December 13, 2014 at 7:16 am
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    I’m no engineer and claim zero understanding of even the basics…

    That said… how the hell is that thing real!? That’s awesome and I can’t even begin to fathom how it was done. Cool either way.

    • December 14, 2014 at 12:46 am
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      I’m wondering if its CGI being used in that scene.

      I’d like to see a real model of this droid
      and then I’ll put my suspicions to rest.

      Some scenes could be a real model used and other scenes could be CGI.

  • December 13, 2014 at 2:47 pm
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    The part that really caught my attention in the Yahoo interview was this part:

    “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.”

    First semi-official confirmation of Solo / Skywalker children?

  • December 15, 2014 at 4:35 am
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    Mark Hamill is a good actor when he has a good character to work with. No one else could do Joker that well, but if you give him a crap character, he’s that character. Good actors give bad performances all the time if they’re stuck in a bad movie.
    The thing with Harrison Ford is that he is a very talented actor, but he’s a character actor.
    He always plays Harrison Ford, which is limiting but also liberating. Harrison Ford is always good in his movies, because he is the show, he isn’t held back by bad script-writing. However it does limit Ford’s range.
    I like both actors for opposite reasons.
    Harrison Ford is dependably charming, Mark Hamill can pop up anywhere in any character, be it as a Magical Space-Monk (totally the Chosen One IMO), as a raving be-clowning mass-murderer or as an immortal all-useful park handyman. Or basically any cartoon in the past decade that needed a creepy/old-voice for a scene. I think he also was Wolverine in some videogame

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