Denis Lawson to Appear at Star Wars Celebration Orlando!
Here’s a headline that we certainly didn’t expect to see – Wedge Antilles actor Denis Lawson, who turned down a shot at a cameo in The Force Awakens because he thought it would bore him and has been pretty ambivalent about the franchise as a whole, is now going to appear at the Star Wars Celebration Orlando event. This will be the first time he’s attended the convention.
Perhaps this is just a 40th Anniversary thing, or perhaps it’s a sign that he might be up for a cameo later on in the Sequel Trilogy after The Force Awakens did so well. But as even if this is just a one-time thing, Lawson will be joining quite an impressive array of Star Wars talent – most impressive.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
Why would it have to be a cameo in ep 8?
I never said it would. I just said that a cameo (particularly for E9) isn’t entirely implausible now.
– Pomojema
He must be short of cash. Star Wars wasn’t good enough for him up until last year.
He said that SW is boring *to him* – and, as far as acting goes, I can kinda agree with that, considering how he was used, as an actor.
My heart bleeds. It’s almost as if he wasn’t getting paid….
Surely he was paid handsomely, which… means what, exactly? People working at fast food joints are paid as well, does this mean they can’t decide to quit their job and call it boring?
Yes, but if you do, and then bitch about your fast food job every time it comes up for the next 40 years, it’s a bit rich to then show up at a self-congratulatory, back-slapping, fast food retrospective.
Did he? I knew he declined to be in TFA because he said SW was boring to him. If I did bitch about SW for 40 years then yes, I agree with it being rich – even though, sir Alec Guinness “really didn’t care” (to be euphemistc) about SW either and that, apparently, didn’t stop him from working at McDonald’s, or something 😉
I don’t understand folks willingness to distort reality in order to further a conversation. Lawson merely said that reprising his role in Star Wars would be “boring” and people run with this idea that he detests the franchise and that he’s had some sort of amorphous grudge against it since ROTJ. Utterly insane.
Knowing Lucas, it was probably buttons.
Lol…I get bored at work many times, but I still show up to work because I’m well paid. They can ‘use’ me all they want.
Point being?
Unlikely but Oh I wish….
Just when he thinks he’s out they pull him back in.
He told his nephew to never be in Star Wars 20 years ago
That was 20 years ago…
In unrelated news, Tatooine is now HOTH!!!
I would say it’s likely that some contract has been agreed with Disney. Money talks.
Shameless cash-grab. Just wait for the $200+ autograph price.
they charge that much at conventions? crikey. David Prowse charged £20 at the little convention local to where I live.
Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration. But he has voiced nothing but contempt for the franchise over the years. So, it wouldn’t surprise me if he tries to fleece the fans.
If they are willing to pay, then that’s on them. They are big kids.
I remember reading that Ray Park was charging $50 for his autorgraph when the phantom menace was released. At the time I thought that was ridiculous, but I suppose they have to make it worth their time doing the conventions which I imagine they’re paid little for. That said, if I was even a semi-famous actor, I’d feel bad about taking money off a teenage kid just for me to scribble on a photo for him.
C’mon Lawson.
General Antilles needs to school Poe Dameron.
Everybody’s got a price.
Now we just need Colin Higgins.
A lot of fans reacted as though it were an act of heresy for Denis Lawson to have turned down the opportunity to reprise the role of Wedge in The Force Awakens. I’ve always thought that this was unfortunate and more than a little unfair.
The thing is, it’s not as though he played Wedge in three Star Wars movies and then got a job slinging hash somewhere. Lawson has built himself a very successful career as a stage and television actor. By this point in his career he’s fortunate enough to be able to pick and choose his projects to the extent that he doesn’t have to grab hold of every role that comes his way.
Whatever part the character of Wedge might have played in TFA, it would almost certainly have been the same glorified cameo that Lawson played 30-40 years ago in the OT films. While most of us fans would love to be able to get paid to sit in a cockpit for a day or two, being bounced around and hollering out squadron commands, I think if we step back and look at it objectively, we should be able to see fairly clearly that for Denis Lawson as a professional actor, this would be a step back to the kind of jobs he took at the very beginning of his career.
I see no reason whatsoever for any of us to take offense at the fact that he didn’t want to do this.
As for Lawson deciding to appear at Celebration Orlando, well… good for him! Is he doing so because he decided to take a role in an upcoming Star Wars movie after all, or because he decided that he’d like to connect with some of his fans, or because he’s getting a nice check for a weekend trip to Florida?
Who cares?
Seriously, does it really matter why he’s coming to Celebration? The important thing is that he’s going to be there. And whether or not he ever does another Star Wars flick, he’s part of three films that we grew up with and that made a very positive impact on our lives. If you’re at Celebration, go say hi, shake his hand and tell him thanks!
And if you’re not at Celebration, maybe check out some of his other roles. A lot of them are British TV shows that you may or may not have access to, but there are some movies in there too. I highly recommend “Local Hero” if you’ve not seen it before. Not just for Lawson’s role, but because it’s a great little movie overall.
Take offense at declining to participate? Of course not. As you say, he’s at a point in his career where he can pick and chose what he would like to spend his time on. Raise an eyebrow at the WAY he chose to do so? I think that’s entirely reasonable.
How exactly did he choose to do so? By saying that sitting in a fake cockpit running lines for a day or so would be boring for him at this point in his career? He’s right. I wouldn’t want to go back to doing the jobs I did early in my career either.
I’m just not seeing the big eyebrow raiser here.
People are making something out of nothing with this Lawson thing.
Thanks, Dekka – you actually expressed what I was tryin’ to say in my clumsy english a few comments back.
“Psssst…. Uncle Denis, I’m lobbying to revive my Star Wars movie career — please make nice and do exactly as they say.”
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c9eb65c4fcb0e419ee1284c620e9b9799dadcdc40b2f258f70c7a0c6e31e9f56.jpg
Regardless of his reasons, it’s nice to see him at Celebration. There is no side character that I have more affection for than Wedge Antilles. The guy survived every important engagement in the OT and helped bring down both Death Stars. If that doesn’t deserve respect, I don’t know what does.
If he did make an appearance in the ST, that would please me to no end, but I respect him either way.
Well this is going to be majorly fucking awkward. Now I wish I could really go.
man i hope they announce he will be playing a role in the resistance!