J.J. Abrams Says Mark Hamill is Underrated, Praises The Last Jedi and the Han Solo Film!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams was at the 12th annual Oscar Wilde Awards in Santa Monica, supporting the US-Ireland Alliance non-profit organization, hosted at Bad Robot. In several interviews, the director didn’t miss the chance to praise the upcoming Star Wars movies and the people involved.
First J.J. Abrams spoke with NYDailyNews, sharing his thoughts about Mark Hamill.
I think we are all going to be very upset if he does not win an Oscar, and no one more upset than Mark.
This was actually a joke towards Hamill, who posted the following funny tweet addressed to Abrams a few days ago:
.@HamsterHashtags #JJsPointers #SlowlyTurnRemoveHoodButDontStartYourLengthyOscarWorthyMonologueUntilYouGetToThatRockOverThere #SilenceSpeaks pic.twitter.com/kpTboveiow
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) February 22, 2017
The NYDailyNews confused the image above as being from The Last Jedi, hence their misleading title and comments. 🙂
Of course this doesn’t mean that Abrams thinks Hamill is not a good actor, quite the contrary. In another interview with ET Online (via MSN), the director, who also is executive producer of The Last Jedi, praised Hamill as an actor.
ET Online: Mark Hamill keeps posting about what you said to him on that cliff.
Abrams:Â Actually, he’s very funny. I always think frankly that he has been a little bit underrated. Look what he had to do to bring 3PO and R2-D2 to life in a way. His work was always incredible and there he was in that, sadly, short scene at the end of TFA and he had to convey a whole lot with no dialogue, so it’s a lot harder in a way than you might think. He is a terrific actor an I can’t wait for everyone to see what he finally does say.
Abrams didn’t miss the chance to say some good words for Rian Johnson and The Last Jedi as well.
ET Online: Were you a little jealous that someone else got to write Luke’s first line of dialogue?
Abrams: Sure, there’s definitely a pain, but Rian Jonson is a great filmmaker and storyteller, and I think what he’s done is… well, you will see, but for me, I was less jealous and more excited as a fan of the series.
My involvement is minimal as Rian Johnson is a filmmaker who doesn’t need babysat. He is hard at work in editing the movie now and it’s going to be amazing.
Also the director briefly spoke about Carrie Fisher.
She will be remembered for exactly who she was — one of the most brilliant minds: irreverent, clever, blinding-bright. I knew her for decades. To know her and to work with her, especially as that character, was surreal and a beautiful thing.
In a third interview, this time with FOX News, Abrams discussed the upcoming Han Solo spin-off film, saying the script is “amazing”.
I think it is a thrill to be a part of something that meant so much to me as a kid and to be part of allowing it to mean so much for kids now. It is fun to see it live on in various forms and ways even five years ago I would have never imagined it would have continued and knowing what is coming up is even more exciting.
I can tell you it is an amazing script and the cast is obviously extraordinary.
Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.
Born on April 24, 1980.
Have Abrams and Gareth Edwards thrown any praise towards each other’s Star Wars films? Gareth sorta made a passive, back-handed comment about doing new things, and J.J. seems to regularly call almost everything and everybody else “amazing”… but I haven’t been able to find his documented opinion of Gareth or Rogue One. If anyone reading this can dig up any quotes or sound-bites, I’d appreciate it.
There’s probably just a friendly rivalry between the two, but it’s still interesting. I feel like we have sort of an A-team and a B-team at Lucasfilm — those still bound to the legacy of the old regime, and those who want to push the stories forward (and both are coexisting just fine btw).
…I think it’s all in your head.
You tell ’em
Oh he will. He knows better than anybody else.
Haha ! Classic
Crazy suggestion but it might help you: http://www.google.com
Thanks dad
Welcome to the Internet, son.
What’s your favorite aspect of the internet?
Serious business.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/602b449c4f87febc345fea9b75f2ac2ae8103fb5073e461c86d2f218b11a52af.gif
That wasn’t a dig at you. 😉
I know — just throwing out some “Withnail & I” love
besides meeting new people, i’d have to say the memes.
Abams is Diet Speilburg so you’ll never hear him run down another director.
Yeah, I don’t expect to — I’m looking for the opposite
I just can’t wait for celebration, I really hope they showcase some luke in the trailer. Not too much, but some shots to blow minds
“my involvement is minimal as Rian doesn’t need to be babysat.”
I hope that puts some minds at ease.
It made me very happy to hear from JJ:
“my involvement is minimal”
Directors –
Rian’s already demonstrated he’s a very talented director.
Actually of all of the new SW movies, the one I’m most excited to see their work. Gareth Edwards was my 2nd most anticipated.
As for the rest … varied from concerned to very cautiously optimistic.
agreed. even though i like JJ a lot i really want this film to be its own animal.
I think it’s one of the things that was great about the OT & missing in the PT. I’ve always liked the idea of mixing things up with directors – breathe new life/ideas/aesthetic/etc into ea new work.
Rian –
I’d been looking forward to his future works back when he 1st wrote+directed “Brick”. As well he demonstrated his skill with “Looper”. Think that he might have a very interesting approach to telling the story.
The cynic in me says he is in damage control mode and knows how polarizing he is as a director. I heard he had no involvement in Star Trek Beyond and it had his fingerprints all over it.
well he created the reboot universe and the movie was written by a guy who stared in the first two films. so it makes sense that it would feel similar whether JJ was around or not.
That’s good. Because, Rian is a much better director than him. Rian may not have the large amount of big features as Abrams, BUT makes up for it in terms of quality of his work. Whether it be something small like Brick or something thought provoking yet had rich characterization like Looper, Rian I have a feeling can do where Abrams failed: tell a good story and take us somewhere new, yet make it work.
Really, much as I am a bit of a cynic, I did enjoy Rogue One and did renew my faith in the brand movie wise. Because, really I found it sad that the non-movie stuff aka the New Canon I enjoyed a lot more.
Overall, I’m rooting for Rian to succeed. I want TLJ to blow TFA out of the water. Call me selfish, but I do want Rian to be successful and really make his mark on Hollywood. Because, we need directors like him.
After what he done with TFA …. he should be hiding in another galaxy
What? Making the best reviewed and widely seen episode of Star Wars since ’77?
Force Awakens is actually be the best reviewed Star Wars film of all time. ANH and ESB had mixed reviews upon release. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CSbBW-fWEAAohSW.jpg Some aggregated all the reviews from back in the day and made it a Rotten Tomato score for reference.
That is major bullshit, to say the least…
Still that is the percentages at the time of release you salty person.
I’m not salty, I just hate bullshit like your post.
The RT system is entirelly different than movie reviews back in the 70s, 80s. You can’t be sure which review would be counted as fresh or rotten today, as many negative reviews are counted as fresh.
So even though a critic might’ve criticised many aspects of the movie, it might’ve been counted as a fresh. There were also far fewer critics and reviews at the time.
So the post is useless and completely fictional.
Yep I taste the salt lol.
ANYONE who thinks ANY of the OT SW movies were considered “near rotten” (<60%) is an idiot.
TESB had very critical opinions back then in which it should have.
So you have read all the reviews from the 70s and 80s when these things were released? The person who did this graphic did but you obviously just like to be salty.
Re: “reviews from the 70s & 80s”
Firstly, I was around in the 70s & 80s & saw those movies upon original release – I READ (/wated – TV) the reviews at the time.
Second, rotten tomatoes & the internet wasn’t around at the time.
I don’t believe those RT scores accurately reflect the public opinion scores from the “70s & 80s”. Nor, most specifically, as to my original point – I don’t believe for a second that the public opinion of Empire & Jedi are considered “near rotten”…. then or now!
No *salty*, just RIGHT.
Oh I though you were a young naive kid but you are an in denial adult. Makes just as much sense. You keep refusing to believe things though.
Interpreting #s –
You keep telling yourself that the public thinks Empire & Jedi are “near rotten” & you’ll be deluding yourself.
I never said that your reading skills is not quite as strong as the salt running through your veins.
Those reviews are stupid. ROTJ is not 61%
These are reviews at the time of release. ROTJ got a very mixed reception upon release. You were probably born in 2008 so I will not hold that against you.
I was born in the 90s dipshit
It was a joke.
have you ever seen a prank?
after making a 2 billion dollar film JJ can probably write his own ticket in hollywood.
I suspect that was more down to the name “Star Wars”. After all, Phantom Menace made $1.5 billion nearly twenty years ago.
Except it did not make 1.5 billion…
Worldwide it did.
No, it made just under $1 billion, and only passed the 1B mark after it was reissued in 2012. It made about half of what TFA did, total.
http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Star-Wars-Ep-I-The-Phantom-Menace#tab=summary
Shows it just over $1B.
However, as I mentioned (above), it’s difficult comparing box office take …even when adjusting for inflation… then so many years have passed:
Population growth
Population ABLE to see at box office – income/# theatres/etc
I thin TPM was the 9th highest grossing film of all time after initial release? Regardless, it’s asinine to imply it wasn’t a phenomenal HIT. Absolutely ridiculous & asinine. [ Not saying you’ve said this, but I’ve seen others imply it ]
TUD, to expand on my comment about TPM box-office take… & pointing out that it was a smash-hit by any measure… I felt that I should add that I DON’T think that box-office take is truly a measure of the *quality* of a movie.
Nowadays with an otherwise very mediocre movie (story/plot/acting) … enough marketing/popular (in fashion) story/block-buster special effects(lots of bang+whiz+wow)… mediocre films can (frequently are!) top grossing films for a given year & even rank very high in modern top ranking world wide lists.
So I’m not arguing TPM was a *great* movie because of it’s financial success. I think that box office take is a very poor measure of *greatness*. 😉
So that’s all due to JJ is it?
Of course not, but if the movie weren’t good, there wouldn’t have been as many repeat viewings. JJ has shown time and time again that he can put butts in seats, and whether we like it nor not, that’s what Hollywood execs are looking for.
Re: ” JJ has shown time and time again that he can put butts in seats”
Being handed MAJOR (established!) brands doesn’t hurt:
Mission Impossible
Star Trek
Star Wars
He’d have to be near incompetent to NOT put butts in seats for those.
So the only other movie he directed which wasn’t a major established franchise was “Super 8”.
$260M world-wide take on a $50M budget. …. fairly *meh*.
1. Exactly, they want someone who is proven to be competent, as they put a lot of money into these things.
2. 4 times its budget is anything but “meh”, in my opinion.
Fair enough on “Super 8″‘s take. I think that my opinion of the movie coloured my *meh*. 😉
But in this discussion of “top grossing” takes, to be fair… a dozen years before “Super 8” TPM made 10 times it’s budget with a much smaller potential market (read population).
A quick google showed “Super 8” didn’t break into the top 200 grossing films.
My point about JJ’s film career is that 3x of his 4x movies were major franchises, that really almost could *not* fail (make profit) with studio marketing/hype. [sure, same can be said of TPM]
Originally it made 924m worldwide and now it’s 1.027m after the 2012 3D re-release.
But even adjusted for inflation it’s only 1.3 billion.
“Only”.
lol
It’s “only”, compared to your suggested 1.5b.
I think the point is that do you think it would have made anywhere near that if it weren’t for the Star Wars brand? It likely would have been a flop without it, so to credit Abrams for the success of TFA is misplaced I think. I think much of it was down to the brand and the returning original cast.
It prefectly useless and stupid to theorise about “what if it weren’t for the SW brand”, as TFA could not exist without its predecessors. And considering the low quality and divisive nature of the PT, much of the credit goes for JJ, who managed to create a good movie after a 30 years pause.
When TPM was released SW was the greatest thing ever. When TFA was released the general quality, was much lower.
Personally, I think Daisy Ridley stole the show. The rest of the new cast (Boyega, Driver, and Isaac) deserve high praise as well. The success of that movie was attuned to both the old and new cast.
Think Mark Kermode captured the appeal of TFA, I recall he wrote during the initial release that the audience in his cinema were whopping and cheering whilst watching the movie, him included.
Juxtapose that with dull as dishwater TPM.
To be fair… TPM is still the 18th highest grossing film of all time!
Comparing gross decades apart —
As well… the world’s population & potential # of viewers (income class/# theatres/etc) was WAY LESS than TFA.
It makes comparing box-office movies decades apart even more difficult.
You can adjust for inflation, if you want.
It’s not decades, just 16 years.
My point wasn’t that TPM was decades apart (although closer to 2 decades than one if you’re rounding 😉 ) … my point was about the lists of “top grossing films” (of all time) being not very useful/accurate for comparison, even when adjusting for inflation.
Examples of further adjustment to fairly compare box office take world-wide:
16 years – the world’s population was 6 billion in 1999.. ONE BILLION more people in 2016. That’s a heck of a lot more POTENTIAL viewers.
How many more theatres/showings available in major population centers?
How many people moved into income level to be able to see movies? (think poor countries that have had massive growth in middle class)
Comparing box office take 16 years…or “decades” apart is fairly meaningless.
A much more *useful* measure to compare would be percentage!
Something like this:
Q: What percentage of the world’s potential movie viewers translated into viewings (/repeat viewings)?
The market has changed significantly.
TPM had absolutely no competition in pretty much the enitre year (except for the Matrix though, which is a far superior movie as well).
Nowadays there is a big budget film released every month. The market is oversaturated with blockbusters. It’s actually harder today to make a large hit like TFA. Ticket prices also went much higher, which obviously means higher revenue, but it also means that audiences are becoming pickier.
TPM also had the advantage of the “perfect brand”, as when it was released Star Wars was the best thing ever. After the PT the enthusiasm and the general quality went much lower.
And there was about 1.2 BILLION more movie viewers for the TFA than TPM (see world population 1999->2016).
Not to mention how many more movie theatres & accessibility. You mention middle class wages in the US, but that’s ONLY in the US – meanwhile China, India & other WAS MORE populated countries have significantly grown their middle class.
Over a BILLION more possible viewers. End of story.
China, India and Asia in general dosen’t like Star Wars except for Japan (where the OT was a huge hit). So even though those markets grew significantly, and assure many Hollywood movies high revenue, it doen’t really affect Star Wars regardless of quality or even local actors, as shown by Rogue One.
The main markets are still the US, Europe and Australia.
Re: “China, India and Asia in general dosen’t like Star Wars except”
Not the point (mostly irrelevant) – the potential market grew by over a BILLION.
Please don’t tell me you’re going to imply (as TUD seems to think) that US, Europe & Australia are the only countries that didn’t grow in population (SIGNIFICANTLY – the point here, enough to put way more people in theatres!) since 1999.
Over 1 BILLION more potential movie goers. (more theatres, more people able to watch). End of story. It’s a ridiculous comparison.
How is it a potential if the Asian market refuses to watch SW? And how is it ridiculous to compare box office performance of movies released just 16 years apart? (Including a re-release merely 3 years before TFA)
Re: “How is it a potential if the Asian market refuses to watch SW?”
I’m sorry, but do you honestly think that the rest of the world outside of Asian markets hasn’t had their population grow significantly?
Do you not realize how quickly people re-produce?
Re: “how is it ridiculous to compare box office performance of movies released just 16 years apart?”
1Billion+ more people, many more movie theatres, many more people able to see movies, etc.
Google is your friend, population increase examples (NOT your dreaded – “nobody in Asian markets watches these movies!” claim) 1999-2016:
USA – up 35 million
Brazil – up ~30 million
So that’s 65 million more potential viewers in just two countries in the Americas.
Again, you’re not thinking about how many more movie theatres there are & how many more people are able to afford movies….now measure that against an over 1 BILLION increase in population.
In another 16 years (2033) world population is estimated to be ~8.6 billion + … so when a couple of mediocre blockbusters come out that easily beat the original Star Wars box office take, you’d argue they’re better movies?
Boxofficemojo –
I chuckle at your “Asian market refuses to watch SW” when a quick check for TFA gross shows that China is the #2 highest grossing country outside of the US! With $124M
Only one beats it, the UK.
But how many of those viewers were in poor counties like China, where the film market was all but non-existant?
Re: ” in poor counties like China”
The ~1.2B increase in potential consumers….
Population grown was not limited to China. The entire earth’s population grew by a phenomenal amount. Yes, that includes the “film market” (whatever you imagine it to be).
Absolutely, brand plus hype helped a lot. But so did making a film that people could see multiple times.
Whatever…
JJ made history imo. He made a film with no creativity and incompetance on his part with lots of logic and consistency errors and still broke records in ticket sales. I’ve seen it all now, pigs can fly, the force is real.
I agree with JJ about Mark Hamill. I’ve never found his acting in ANH bad by any means. In fact, I’d say his performance is part of what made Star Wars what it is.
His interaction with C3PO and R2D2 is really on the spot along with Yoda in ESB.
He made those scenes beliveable.
He was whiny, no doubt, but that was part of his character imo. Being whiny dosen’t instantly make a performance bad.
No, it just makes a performance grating. Luke was still tolerable, though.
Re: “Luke was still tolerable, though.”
Think you’re also in the minority with that opinion.
Sincerely doubt if you polled people the world over, asking about movie characters & “what do you think of Luke Skywalker” …any sizeable percentage would respond – “he’s intolerable”.
The unfortunate side effect of an inexperienced actor being directed by Lucas.
Re: ” being directed by Lucas.”
From comments made by his cast, “directed” might be an overstatement. 😉
“Faster. More intense.” That’s literally the only direction I’ve ever seen him do on film.
Re: “grating”
Imagine polling theatre goers coming out of Star Wars showings in 1977 – what % of viewers to you think when asked “what did you think of Luke?” would’ve answered “he was grating”.
Instead I think that all of Star Wars (well not new movies so much, YET!) gets nitpicked by fans, particularly “in hindsight”.
I’m not about to give out my age or anything, but I’ll tell you this: I don’t have much hindsight when it comes to most of the film in the Star wars franchise. Episode IV Luke is nothing compared to Episode II Anakin, but he’s still annoying imo.
“I WAS GOING TO TOSCHE STATION TO PICK UP POWER CONVERTURZZ!!”
Ugh, that whiny voice will haunt my dreams.
Re: “nothing compared to Anakin”
Hehe … yeah, I almost specifically mentioned Anakin, including “Yipee!” {little Annie}.
Those performances, I imagine more people felt were very *grating* upon original viewing.
Re: “I WAS GOING TO TOSCHE STATION TO PICK UP POWER CONVERTURZZ!!”
Fair enough…yeah, that’s grating example.
However, I didn’t feel that character over-all was *grating*. Particularly back in 1977.
Age – yeah…I’m “that old” & saw the movie (as a child! so not *that* old-hehe) … upon original release in 1977.
I just never thought of Luke as being a bit whiny until much later…and even then only feel he’s a bit whiny/annoying. Hence my comment about “hindsight”.
I don’t know what my reaction to the character would be if I’d watched ANH for the 1st time a an adult today.
Oh yeah. Don’t get me wrong, Luke is overall a pretty good character in Episode IV, but Mark certainly could have been directed better in that film.
Yeah… sadly Lucas’ famous “directing by not directing his actors” certainly didn’t aid his young/inexperienced actors.
Luke has just a couple of lines where he is complaining. I don’t find him to be whiny or grating at all. Mark’s performance is spot on for the role. Anakin on the other hand…
I always thought Luke had the weakest performance of the big three when I was younger. Now, I realize how amazing his performance really was, especially in ESB and ROTJ. In fact, I’d say he had the best performance of the big three in ROTJ and it’s a tie between him and Ford in ESB.
I feel similar. When I was younger I thought it was a weak performance, but now I know it was exactly how his character should’ve been. Energic and a bit complainy, as he represents the idea of wanting to do more and searching for adventure.
Hamill’s performance in ANH I always saw as his weakest performance in the trilogy. I cannot fully fault him because that was one of his first big gigs. ESB was aided by having Irvin Kershner who is an incredible director and having one of the best screenplays ever written.
And by ROTJ, Hamill had gotten enough experience to where some of the lines goofy as they were, I could get behind. But to be fair; I love ROTJ era Luke. Overall, I’m looking forward to seeing Hamill play the role again.
Yeah, Legends had Luke but usually it was someone else portraying him voice wise. Now, we’re getting the real deal. And that to me is exciting.
With all due respect, he’s one of the producers. It means as much to me as Kathleen Kennedy or Eisner saying the same thing. (And I’m not trying to take anything away from Mark, because he really is an underrated actor.) IF this praise was coming from someone not connect to the films, then I’d be more excited.
Wait, sonyou agree with the statement as a whole, just not that he thinks it.
yeah, but if he’s so down rated and needs more praise, where was him during TFA?
Standing aside so that we could introduced to Rey and Finn. You did watch the movie, right?
Yeah. But I wished I could see more Luke.
Well that’s what Episode VIII is for, hopefully.
I see there ever an instance you don’t come off as smug. Just saying.
He’s not smug. He’s right.
That’s unfortunate.
…and now I’m over it.
Honestly, I get why TFA didn’t include much of Luke as he would have overshadowed a lot of the newer characters. BUT that doesn’t excuse a lot of the problems that movie has for me personally.
I just hope that TLJ will be able to nail Luke as a character and really showcase Hamill. He’s a great actor and one who if with the right script and director can do an amazing job. 🙂
Says the guy that put in episode 7 for less than 20 seconds
I really hope he’s not lying about his minimal involvement for the film but he seems to be as loose with the truth as GL himself. The only films of his I’ve actually somewhat enjoyed were the ones he just slapped his name on and I’m hoping that’s really the case here and not just some PR statement. I’m a little optimistic since what very little I know about the film, Seems to sound pretty good. I’m not unrealistic in wanting another Empire, Just a step up in quality like between AOTC and ROTS.
If TLC is anywhere near as good as R1 then I think IX should be as well with everything in place and the fact that even someone like Richard Marquand could make Jedi memorable.
Much as I do NOT like JJ Abrams as a director, I will agree with him about Mark Hamill being underrated. SWs aside, having seen The BIg Red One recently, I found myself amazed at Hamill.
But really, I found it kind of sad that Hamill never achieved the same notoriety as Harrison Ford in terms of branching out into Hollywood. That said, I love how he’s gotten into voice acting.
I mean I cannot speak for everyone, but Hamill Joker will always be iconic. As for TLJ, I’m excited to see Hamill again. He’s a lot older and has more experience. But someone like Rian Johnson is going to make Hamill do some amazing things.
I’m very biased; so I’ll be upfront about that, but what Johnson managed to do with Bruce Willis in Looper was nothing short of incredible. And I say this as someone who felt like Willis as an actor really declined. And heck, Breaking Bad is also a great example as well.
So I’m excited to see how Hamill does in TLJ. That said, I’ll just say one thing; JJ you can promote the film and talk all you want. BUT let Rian Johnson direct his movie. Let him bask in the glory; because, quite frankly, unlike you Abrams, Johnson deserves it.
Maybe he can have a late-career comeback, similar to how Tarantino brought back Kurt Russell. I really hope it for him. He can play rugged characters, no need for him to get in shape or shave.
But of course first of all I want him to be a huge part in the next two SW movies, if Luke dies in the VIII it would be a shame. We need to see Luke kick ass at least one more time.