Mark Hamill Talks J.J. Abrams, the New Voice-Over he Recorded for the Teaser Trailer and More
During his panel at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, Mark Hamill admitted that first he was suspicious when J.J. Abrams was announced to direct the first movie in the new trilogy. Hamill also revealed that the voice-over from the new teaser trailer is a mix between the recording from Return of the Jedi and a new one he did especially for the teaser…
Here are some highlights from Hamill’s panel via Startribune.com:
Mark Hamill knew he had to say yes when George Lucas told him about the plans to move forward with a new “Star Wars” trilogy.
“It’s not like a choice. It’s like I was drafted, could you imagine if for some reason I said ‘I don’t think I want to do it?’ I would have all of you surrounding my house like villagers, angry villagers with lightsabers instead of torches.”
When things started coming together, Hamill said he was cautiously optimistic about J.J. Abrams, the chosen director for “The Force Awakens.”
“I was a little suspicious because he was a ‘Star Trek’ guy,” said Hamill, laughing. The actor quickly clarified that he likes “Star Trek. It just seems odd.”
Hamill noted, that Abrams is also the first “Star Wars” director to be borne out of true fandom of the original films.
“He feels the way you feel in terms of wanting practical effects. Real sets,” he said.
Keeping in line with the secrecy surrounding “The Force Awakens,” Hamill said he is always worried about leaking information. He claims he even learned the subtitle of the seventh film on the Internet.
“They’re so secretive these days,” said Hamill. “When we did the first one no one cared.”
Hamill was “cleared” to tell the packed house that he did record a voiceover specifically for the new teaser trailer. In the teaser, we hear Luke’s voice saying a familiar, but slightly altered line from “Return of the Jedi”: “The force is strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. My sister has it. You have that power too.”
He laughed and said that he kept messing up and saying: “My father had it.” The end result is a combination of the original recording and Hamill’s new session, the actor said.
Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.
Born on April 24, 1980.
He was soooo awesome in this panel. He didn’t want it to end. You could tell he was having a blast.
The man’s career is in such revival mode because of this new trilogy and I honestly couldn’t be happier for him. Couldn’t happen to a better guy.
I agree with you, but it’s worth pointing out that his career was actually doing just fine before the SW revival. Many know him as the definitive voice of The Joker in Batman animation projects, not to mention the rest of his voice-over work and forays into comic-writing. I’m as pumped as everyone to see him as Luke again, but it’s not like his career was as bad as say…Carrie Fisher’s. 😛
You can really tell that Mark has been in the voice-acting business, he sounded crystal clear in that teaser.
Mark Hamill FTW
Yeah, considering it was pulled from ROTJ in ’83 when he was younger. The recording he did last week was the echo we hear in the teaser. The clearer dialogue was rearranged.
Asshat.
Oh yeah, my bad.
Here is a clip where he talks bout’ it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XtKJNy2JVU
At least I’m glad we don’t have to speculate whether that was Luke or not.
Anyone notice the background pattern makes Mark look like he has Yoda ears?
WHy isnt anyone talking about Luke’s “dark voice”. Is there NO speculation that he”s going the be the bad guy? Or are we just all assuming that.
It was a fun interview to watch.
Agreed! Also, you’re not an asshat as I previously stated.
Thanks. I’m gonna refrain from doing the classic “apology accepted Capt. Needa” force choke on you. Lol.
OMerGerd. Fans showing class in the comments section? 0_o
Haha, very nice! I love reading on these forms…always something to make me laugh.
Wow. That will certainly tear a lot fans up. Much has been made of the line in the current trailer “My father HAS it”. Then Mark admits that it would have been a mistake to say “My father HAD it” – as in “my father is dead”.
The most logical way of thinking would be that Luke still communicates with Anakin’s spirit through the Force. But, lets have a little fun with this. What if Anakin survived the final beatdown at the end of ROTJ. Luke knew his father would be mercilessly prosecuted, so he stowed the old man away in a hidden location and burned the suit. And the Hayden force ghost? That was just the evil evaporating into vapor. 🙂
People are reading way too much into the has/had thing. It’s just establishing continuity with RotJ. “Remember that thread? We’re picking it up in the next movie.” They used the original dialogue for a reason.
I agree. The “has/had” thing sounds like it’s only to do with making the new reading match the ROTJ dialogue.
Yeah I find it really interesting too that he is clearly confirming it was very intentional to say “my father HAS it”… My guess is he regularly communicates with Anakin via the force as Luke did with Obi-Wan. We shall see!
He that believeth in the living Force, though he were dead, yet shall he live
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, (26) and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?””
-Fixed that for you
Does Jesus believe in Yoda?
I do like the empty suit theory though. That would actually be awesome. Except for Hayden, ugh.
Wahhh wahhhh I hate prequels wahhhh…
It’s getting old, man.
Stop whining.
Just as I said. New dialouge, but his voice has been de-aged a bit. I also said that they may have used original dialouge from RotJ like a combination, so I was right In the first place. Seeing Luke again will make me hyperventilate. Mark is very awesome, has always been awesome. Love him.
Tell your sister… you were right.
Mark says in the panel that the vocal you hear is actually from RotJ and that his new recording was used for the reverb.
This was really the best panel.
“My father has it” Jesus above, please do not have an appearance by Hayden Christensen in TFA reprising the whiny bastard Anakin as a ghost or otherwise. Vader’s dead, let’s leave it at that!!
Ditto
I’d love it :p
I was waiting for the obligatory praise to practical effects and, lo and behold, we got it. Annoying.
Longshot, but maybe the reason Kylo Ren is collecting Sith artifacts is for DNA samples. A genetic mix of Vader and other great Sith warriors. Cloning already exists in the cinematic universe, maybe he’s creating FrankenSith?
My god he’s making Serpentor!
More likely that powerful force users leave traces of their light/dark power in objects and dwellings(see Empire Strikes Back)
MvS is playing the ghost of old Anakin