The Star Wars: Episode 7 set must be cursed or something. A few months after Harrison Ford was injured by the Millennium Falcon, Peter Mayhew, the actor known for playing Chewbacca, has been hospitalized. Thankfully, he’s expected to make a full recovery, but the situation was no less worrisome.
After rumors of Mayhew’s poor health began circling the web, the actor’s wife, Angie, went on Reddit and confirmed the news in a statement to the fans. Peter had contracted pneumonia, though she said he’s expected to make a full recovery and will hopefully be discharged in a few days. "Doctors are incredibly happy with his improvements," she wrote. In addition, the official webmaster of PeterMayhew.com and Chewbacca.com tweeted the news to Mayhew’s 157k+ followers.
Mayhew’s return as Han Solo’s fury sidekick in Star Wars 7 didn’t seem like it would happen at all prior to the official cast announcement. The 70-year-old actor who stands at seven feet, three inches underwent double knee replacement surgery in 2013, as he had been forced to rely on a wheelchair for two whole years. In addition, he also endured a tendon-stretching procedure to stabilize his legs. Side effects from his gigantism, which causes excessive growth, hindered his maneuverability, but he was able to walk again soon after the surgery.
His buddy, Harrison Ford, didn’t fare all too well, either. A few months back, the 72-year-old actor broke his leg on the Star Wars 7 set when the door of the Millennium Falcon broke off and impaled him. Production on the film had to be postponed in order to give him some time to recover, but that too passed. Though, we imagine at the time he was cursing the fastest hunk o’ junk in the galaxy for betraying him.
We just hope no one else comes down with any other injury or illness. It seemed like J.J. Abrams was already rushing a bit to get Star Wars 7 in front of cameras, considering he had to take over the script with Lawrence Kasdan after Disney wasn’t happy with Michael Arndt’s treatment. The fact that Lucasfilm would not push back the release date from its December 18, 2015 slot wasn’t helping matters.
Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, who are returning as Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker, seem like they're in good shape, though. Fisher had said a while ago that the Three Musketeers of Star Wars (including Ford) were busy getting in shape, which is a good thing, especially since these guys are in the late 50s to early 70s category. To give you some perspective, they were 25 (Hamill), 34 (Ford) and 20 (Fisher) when the first Star Wars debuted in May of 1977.
