Mark Hamill has claimed he had "fundamental differences" with Rian Johnson whilst filming ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’.
The 66-year-old actor has been starring as Luke Skywalker for 40 years, and has revealed he was unhappy with the direction the director took his character in during the recently released eighth instalment of the sci-fi franchise as Luke seemingly "gives up", something which Mark doesn’t believe a Jedi would ever do.
Speaking about his role in the new movie, Mark said: "I said to Rian, ‘Jedis don’t give up.’ I mean, even if he had a problem, he would maybe take a year to try and regroup. But if he made a mistake, he would try and right that wrong. So, right there we had a fundamental difference, but it’s not my story anymore. It’s somebody else’s story – and Rian needed me to be a certain way to make the ending effective. That’s the crux of my problem. Luke would never say that. I’m sorry."
Mark went on to state that 73-year-old franchise creator George Lucas – who sold the franchise to Disney along with production company Lucasfilm in 2012 – would have handled Luke’s story in a different way, and said he no longer feels like the role is "his Luke Skywalker" any more.
He added: "Well, in this version, see I’m talking about the George Lucas Star Wars. This is the next generation of Star Wars, so I almost had to think of Luke as another character. Maybe he’s Jake Skywalker. He’s not my Luke Skywalker, but I had to do what Rian wanted me to do because it serves the story well."
The star "still hasn’t accepted" the changes Rian, 44, made to Luke’s character, but insists he still believes the director was the "exact man" the franchise needed to helm the project.
In an interview uploaded to YouTube by user Jar Jar Abrams, Mark said: "But listen, I still haven’t accepted it completely. But it’s only a movie. I hope people like it. I hope they don’t get upset, and I came to really believe that Rian was the exact man that they need for this job."
Mark Hamill had ‘fundamental differences’ with Rian Johnson
