tears in it, but the fact that she doesn’t act
in the Method style, she’s not got the
realism of Brando or Anna Magnani,
means that her terror isn’t really given
a social context. It’s not realistic. It’s
lusher than that, more velvet-like,
more dreamlike.
This is the heart of Doris Day’s
appeal, I think. Her worlds are dreamy
like David Lynch’s worlds are dreamy. It’s
really possible to imagine her in Lynch’s
Blue Velvet (and I’m tempted to cut
scenes from Midnight Lace into that film).
In perhaps her most acclaimed
performance, in Love Me Or Leave Me
(1955), her character is assaulted by
James Cagney’s (a strong pre-echo of
Scorsese’s New York, New York). The
pain in this remarkable film was more
real than the romantic pain in other Day
pictures, and so the critics liked it more.
And again she flirted with social truths in
The Pajama Game (1957), in which she
played a union organiser. This movie has
some of her best numbers (the ‘There
Once Was A Man’ duet is a delight).
But the point about Day was the
trippy Americana, the suffering in
abstract, stylised, sensual worlds. Her
remarkable beauty bled out into her
movies and almost defined their texture.
She was a mood board, like Bowie was
a mood board.PETER MAYHEW STARTED
his working life as Chewbacca on Friday
9 April 1976. The scene, shot at Elstree
Studios, was the infamous Han-Jabba
confrontation in Docking Bay 94. It
marked a 43-year association that saw
Mayhew take an alien sidekick character
to the second lead and turn him into
a pop culture phenomenon. If you want
proof, look at how the
word “Wookiee” has
proliferated into
common usage. That
is in large part down
to Mayhew’s charisma
and performance.
Mayhew was a 7’ 2”
hospital porter by trade
(he juggled his day job and
the New Hope shooting
schedule), so Chewbacca
is arguably an extension
of himself, Mayhew imbuing
the character with a humanity
beneath the yak hair/mohair
costume; look at Chewie’s fear
in the Death Star corridor, his
anguish as the Rebel base
doors close with Luke still
missing, and hisanger at Han being lowered into
carbon freeze. Mayhew studied
animals to capture their movement
but what makes Chewie so great is
the performer himself. Unlike many
masked characters in the saga, you
can actually see Chewie’s eyes: it is
Mayhew who provides the window
into the character’s soul.
Mayhew was instrumental in
keeping the Star Wars flame alive
during the periods between movies,
a constant, generous, genial presence
at conventions, but his giving back
went beyond sitting at a table signing
photos. He cameoed as himself in the
fan film Star Wars Fanboys, scaring off
stormtroopers with Wookiee growls
which he provided himself. He appeared
in character in children’s hospitals
and was a keen supporter of the 501st
Legion, raising money for charitable
children’s causes. Physically unable to
play the role after The Force Awakens,
he endeared himself to fans further
by ensuring Chewbacca’s spirit
survived in both the latest
live-action versions (he ran
a Wookiee boot camp for
current Chewie Joonas
Suotamo) and animation
(he received a ‘Special
Thanks’ for the
Clone Wars episode
‘Wookiee Hunt’).
Much has been
made of the character’s
failure to receive a medal at the
ceremony that concludes A New
Hope — in 1997 MTV gave him
a Lifetime Achievement in
consolation — but it is often
lost that, with his growl, Chewie
has the last laugh. In creating
one of cinema’s most beloved
characters, so did Mayhew.Empire’s Ian Freer on
how Peter Mayhew made
Chewbacca a fan favouritePeter Mayhew
with fans (and
stormtroopers) at the
Star Wars: The Force
Awakens LA premiere
in December 2015.
Below: In Chewie’s
shaggy-rug costume.THE
PEOPLE’S
WOOKIEE
ALAMY, GETTY IMAGES, SHUTTERSTOCK