Garrick Hagon Talks Mark Hamill and His Deleted Star Wars Scenes
Garrick Hagon (aka Biggs Darklighter from A New Hope) talks about his on set time with Mark Hamill, deleted scenes and the fans of Star Wars. Read on for more.
Garrick Hagon, best known for his role as Biggs Darklighter in the original 1977 ‘Star Wars’ film, owes a tiny sliver of his fame to having his big moment left on the cutting room floor. For those unfamiliar with Hagon, his character Biggs was Luke Skywalker’s childhood friend on Tatooine and the pilot he runs into as the rebels are preparing to attack Death Star I in Star Wars: A New Hope – Special Edition.
Well, there was a whole backstory to their friendship on Tatooine that never made it on screen, and viewers never knew that they were removed from the final theatrical release. Although, a majority of his scenes were cut, Biggs still remains one of the more popular characters within the Star Wars universe.
Comics, Beer and Scifi caught up with Hagon at the Motor City Comic Con 2016, and he spoke about his time on set working with Mark Hamill and about how he felt when the early scenes from Star Wars: A New Hope were cut.
“Working with Mark was terrific, he was and still is a very lovely guy, and a very clever actor and all our little scenes together on Tatooine and back in London were a joy”
On how he felt about a majority of his scenes being cut.
“The more your on screen the better it is, and also it tells a nice story of the back life of Luke on Tatooine. Of course we miss it, cause we know it’s there but not visible”
The actor also mentioned that he is very thankful to be a part of the magic and it has been a joy to be around loving and caring fans all these years.
You can view the complete interview here:
Some fans may have seen the deleted footage of Biggs and Luke on Tatooine available on the Blu-Ray, but have you seen this interesting bit of behind-the-scenes action? In the film Blast it Biggs! Where are you?!, director Jamie Benning shows lost footage of Darklighter in Episode IV, as well as commentary from actor Hagon about life on the Star Wars set. This is a rare look at the on set time with Mark Hamill that Hagon spoke about with Comics, Beer and Scifi.
Take a look back.
Check back for more Star Wars news here daily.
May the Force be with you.
I must admit I would love to see a version of the OT with some of these deleted scenes reintroduced, and some of Lucas’s tinkering put right.
Lucas, at that point, had better instincts. All the “Wormie” stuff was pretty bad–fun to watch as deleted scenes, but it doesn’t really fit the tone of rest of the movie. I still think the first edit of Star Wars is the tightest. If Lucas (or now Disney I suppose) want’s to tinker with the FX, that’s one thing, changing the story beats makes it into a different movie.
Very true, but an extended LotR type of release would create extra revenue. However I doubt there’s enough material to be able to do that.
I’m sure much of it has sadly been lost/destroyed over the years.
I still hope they have so much unused footage of Carrie Fisher from 1977 that Princess Leia can make a brief appearance near the end of Rogue One, as Jyn Erso transmits the Death Star plans to the Tantive IV.
The difference, I think, is that LotR was shot with an extended cut and a theatrical cut in mind. There were always going to be two versions of those films. Star Wars was made fairly economically. There wasn’t a lot of extra footage. The extra footage that exists was left out for a reason (IMO).
Very true. Perhaps we’ll see his character expanded upon in Rebels. That might be cool
Always loved Biggs’ costume in those deleted Anchorhead scenes.
I always thought a fortunate side effect of dropping those scenes was that it also meant editing out Biggs’ silly cape and Luke’s silly hat.
I have a theory that Biggs’ spent some time on Cloud City, where he picked up on his good friend Lando’s cape fashion.
Koo Stark would be a good Star Wars name. Lucas should have let her use her real name instead of Cammie.
I have an old Star Wars storybook from ’78 that includes shots from Hagon’s deleted scenes. i always thought that was so cool.
Has anyone made a re-edited version that includes Biggs’ Tatooine scenes IN the film where they WOULD have gone originally? ‘Cause that’d be interesting to see, just to get fresh perspective on the film as a whole.
It’s weird how much these scenes actually explain Luke’s character, I actually look at the character a different way now.
Hagon appeared in a 1972 Doctor Who serial called ‘The Mutants’ alongside John Hollis (Lobot): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRhbLhP8Uho
One of those guys that looks better with the mustache.
and 40 years from now… “Constable Zuvio actor talks Star Wars, working for the first time with Daisy Ridley and importance of his deleted scenes”
Poor Constable Zuvio…
In fact, where I live there are several Constable toys rotting unsold. No kid knows him
like, me personally, I never liked his design so I didnt really care about him not making it to the movie, but I think his “story” shows how marketing, promotion and the ultimate product work in the modern day entertainment, which is very chaotic and unpredictable
I hope Star Wars is still around in 2056.
It’s been around for nearly 40 years, it will be around for AT LEAST another 40. It’s like saying “I hope people are still making cowboy movies in 1980” back in 1940. They’ve been making them since 1903.
It was around and popular for so long because material wasn’t being released constantly. They need to slow down with the movies….
True. But while cowboy is a genre, Star Wars is a brand. I hope it doesn’t get tarnished.
no chance…they’re gonna over saturate and kill it within 10-15 years max.
Then it’ll be rebooted 5-10 years after that. I’ll be dead, so it won’t matter either way…lol
I don’t know. I think they’ll just give it a break and then make sequels rather than reboot. That’s what VII did.
I actually think Lucas made the right call cutting Biggs. No disrespect to Hagon, but Luke being isolated from his peers makes him even more vulnerable and his transformation to a Jedi that much more significant.
agreed, him not being able to go to Toshi Station that afternoon really tells way more about him as a character and his situation on Tatooine than seeing footage of him hanging with the crew in the deleted scene
POWER CONVERTERS!
Met Garrick a few years ago at Star Wars Celebration Orlando. After waiting in line, I met him and said I was getting the autograph for my kids to which he responded, “BRING THEM OVER HERE!” A few minutes later, I brought the kids and he and the actor who played Wedge Antilles posed for photos and spoke with us for several minutes. GREAT GUY who has always showed class!
I definitely would love to see Garrick Hagon in a role in one of the upcoming sequel films.
Kathleen Kennedy, Disney – Please make it so!