8 Days - December 14, 2017

8 DAYS | 47

A NEW HOPE

(1977)

The original line-up:

Mark Hamill (with Carrie

Fisher, Peter Mayhew as

Chewbacca, and Harrison

Ford) was 25 when he first

signed on to play Luke

Skywalker, after he broke

his contract to the TV

drama, Eight is Enough. In

the original script, George

Lucas described Luke as “a

loveable lad with a prize-

winning smile.”

THE EMPIRE

STRIKES BACK

(1980)

Jedi in training: Luke with

mentor Yoda (voiced by

Frank Oz). Luke looked

different here because

before filming for A New

Hope wrapped, Hamill was

injured in a car accident

where “[his] nose was

wiped right off, and [his]

face had to be rebuilt”. To

explain the change, Lucas

wrote a scene where Luke

is attacked and disfigured

by a Wampa.

RETURN OF THE

JEDI (1983)

Light it up: Luke tearing

up Jabba the Hutt’s sail

barge. “There are so many

[memories from the original

trilogy] that I can’t single one

out,” says Hamill, now 66.

“It’s just one after another.

I loved all this adventure

as a child anyway, and to

have this amalgamation of

all these films — Westerns,

WWII movies, cowboys,

pirate movies — all mushed

together in this new way,

day after day, was

wonderful. I couldn’t

believe I got to do it.”

THE FORCE

AWAKENS (2015)

THE LAST JEDI

(2017)

Dark Knight: “He’s

changed a lot,” says Hamill

of an older Luke. “It was

as shocking for me to read

what [writer-director] Rian

[Johnson] had written as

I’m sure it will be for the

audience. I was surprised

by the way he saw Luke

— to hear him say

something like, ‘It’s time

for the Jedi to end’ — and

I wasn’t even sure I agreed

with it.”

Look at how the Jedi master, as

played by Mark Hamill, has evolved

— from whiner to warrior — over

the last 40 years.

LUKE

SKYWALKER:

A LIFE IN PICTURES

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Ciao

Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens this Thursday; it will be reviewed in next week’s issue.