The original Luke Skywalker depicter reveals that he's in early talks to join Harrison Ford as the returning cast member in the upcoming 'Star Wars' movie.
- Feb 21, 2013
AceShowbiz - Words have run rampant that Mark Hamill might join Harrison Ford as the returning cast member for "Star Wars Episode 7". While Walt Disney Pictures/LucasFilm haven't said anything to clarify the report, the original Luke Skywalker depicter himself confirmed that he's indeed in early talks to return to the upcoming space film.
"They're talking to us," Hamill confirmed via Entertainment Tonight. "George [Lucas] wanted to know whether we'd be interested. He did say that if we didn't want to do it, they wouldn't cast another actor in our parts - they would write us out..."
He then revealed, "I can tell you right away that we haven't signed any contracts. We're in the stage where they want us to go in and meet with Michael Arndt, who is the writer, and Kathleen Kennedy, who is going to run Lucasfilm. Both have had meetings set that were postponed -- on their end, not mine. They're more busy than I am."
The 61-year-old actor admitted that he's very intrigued about the logline of "Episode 7" and where it would stand. However, he did claim that he had no idea about the plot details. "I probably learn more from Entertainment Tonight than I do directly from LucasFilm," he joked. "Like for instance, when George Lucas told us he wanted to do the next trilogy, he didn't tell us it was going to be done for Disney. He saved that little nugget, and I read it online like anybody else."
Still, Hamill had his own vision of the upcoming trilogy. He shared, "I said to George that I wanted to go back to the way it was, in the sense that ours was much more carefree and lighthearted and humorous - in my opinion, anyway."
"And another thing I'd want to make sure of is are we going to have the whole gang back? Is Carrie [Fisher] and Harrison and Billy Dee and Tony Daniels, everybody that's around from the original [returning]? I want to make sure that everybody's on board here, rather than just one. I guess I'll have to tune into your show to figure out who's on board."
As for how he thought his character Luke Skywalker should stand in "Episode 7", Hamill said, "I'm assuming, because I haven't talked to the writers, that these movies would be about our offspring -- like my character would be sort of in the Obi-Wan range [as] an influential character..."
"When I found out [while making the original trilogy] that ultimate good news/bad news joke - the good news is there's a real attractive, hot girl in the universe; the bad news is she's your sister - I thought, 'Well, I'm going to wind up like Sir Alec [Guinness]. I'm going to be a lonely old hermit living out in some kind of desert igloo with a couple of robots'."
"Episode 7" has just tapped A-list sci-fi filmmaker J.J. Abrams to serve behind the lens. The movie is slated for a 2015 release Stateside, but it has been rumored that Abrams has yet to agree on the release date. The script, meanwhile, is provided by Oscar winner Michael Arndt.
