Mark Hamill has delighted audiences with his many performances over the years and continues to do so to this day. However, he also has a knack for entertaining fans through his delightful social media presence. Over the years, the icon has shared a number of fun tidbits like throwback photos and behind-the-scenes Star Wars facts. Just recently, he confirmed a deleted sequence from The Force Awakens, which involved Luke Skywalker. And in doing so, the actor provided some funny thoughts.
Most fans undoubtedly know that Luke Skywalker makes his formal debut in the sequel trilogy during the final moments of Episode VII. However, it turns out the Jedi’s severed hand, floating through space and still holding a lightsaber, nearly opened the film. When this fact was brought up on Twitter, Mark Hamill added a few more details to the deleted scene and hilariously weighed in on how keeping it would’ve benefited himself:
Fact Check: TRUEAs my hand hurtled through the stratosphere, the flesh & bone burn away & the lightsaber impales the surface of an unnamed planet. Just imagine: Had this sequence been retained, I would've had bookended cameos, plus TWICE the screen time! #UltraTrivialTrivia 🥱 https://t.co/svXh9Xhhk9October 8, 2021
The scene would've been an intimate and dramatic way to open up Disney’s trilogy of Star Wars films. Though I guess director and co-writer J.J. Abrams wanted to start off the new chapter of the saga in a more straightforward way. Whatever his reasoning was though, it cost the Skywalker actor a second appearance in the film. But I’m sure he’s not too torn up about it, especially since he was able to reprise his role in a bigger way in the subsequent installments.
Believe it or not, this isn’t the weirdest Star Wars sequence he’s ever discussed on social media. He previously shed some light on that trippy scene from Empire Strikes Back, which showed Luke’s head appear in a severed Darth Vader helmet. The actor explained that the sequence was originally going to be done with a molded prop head. However, the creatives weren’t pleased with the head and decided to have the star use his actual noggin.
Mark Hamill definitely seems to have plenty of love for the franchise that made him into a household name. While he doesn’t really engage in any battles with fans regarding George Lucas’ franchise, he has defended it on a few occasions. In a recently published book, he actually spoke out in favor of Lucas’ prequel films. The actor made note of the fact that the writer/director was going for a somewhat different pace and also praised the trilogy for its technological achievements.
And when the actor isn’t sharing franchise secrets or chiming in on long-running debates, he’s still finding his way into the actual productions. Some may not believe it, but he’s had vocal cameos in each of the films Disney has released since it purchased Lucasfilm. Additionally, he got to reprise the Return of the Jedi iteration of his famed Jedi for Disney+’s The Mandalorian.
It’s simply wonderful to see that Mark Hamill has maintained such a strong connection to Star Wars. Here’s hoping he continues to drop in wonderful BTS facts and that he keeps landing roles within the galaxy far, far away.
