What with Mark Hamill almost dying on the set of Star Wars: Episode VIII this week (or, you know, maybe not), it’s made us think about our favorite stories that occurred during the filming of the movies. Here are our favorite behind-the-scenes tales from a galaxy far, far away, which we swear actually did happen.
One of my favorite all-time behind-the-scenes Star Wars stories, comes from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Han Solo is about to become a very interesting piece of conversation art in Jabba the Hutt’s palace, and he’s about to have that now iconic exchange with Princess Leia — “I love you.” “I know.” But that’s not what my favorite story is about…
The actor who portrayed Boba Fett — Jeremy Bulloch — tells quite a hilarious tale about he and David Prowse — the man who was Darth Vader — and how they got tangled-up and fell to the ground during that carbon-freezing scene. Bulloch recalls that he stepped on Vader’s cape and the two villains went to the ground.
"“I think my funny boots with the spikes caused it, it looked ridiculous. Two bad guys falling over? We can’t have that. I didn’t want to look an idiot. I don’t mind about Darth Vader.”"
I think it’s absolutely perfect that Bulloch keeps it straight O.G. Bounty Hunter Mandalorian by saying he didn’t want to look like an idiot, but that he didn’t mind if Vader did. Just add another trophy to Boba Fett’s wall.
H/T – Huffington Post
Kyle Warnke: I love Star Wars when it doesn’t shy away from the big, emotional moments. Scenes like Han’s “I know” to Leia in The Empire Strikes Back, or Obi-Wan’s outburst to Anakin after he cuts off his legs in Revenge of the Sith are etched in the memory of every fan because they’re at the intersection of powerful storytelling and raw feeling.
But sometimes, Star Wars is even better when the silliness of the whole affair peaks through. Or in this case, when it is just offscreen. My favorite behind-the-scenes tale concerns one of the most serious actors in the trilogy, Peter Cushing, who played Grand Moff Tarkin in A New Hope. The story goes that Cushing refused to wear the high boots that went with his Imperial uniform because they were so uncomfortable.
What did he wear instead? Slippers.
That’s right. Cushing, who was portraying a fearsome, ruthless Imperial dictator, shot most of his scenes while wearing slippers. One wonders how Carrie Fisher wasn’t hiding chuckles during her scenes with Cushing. But it’s actually kinda badass that Tarkin stood toe-to-toe with Vader while wearing his unusual footwear.
Elaine Tveit: Han Solo is the quintessential classic Star Wars character, and Harrison Ford is a quintessential classic actor. It’s only fitting, then, that Han’s most famous line in the saga was not even a part of the original script, but rather an off-the-cuff addition that miraculously managed to capture the personality of both character and actor in two simple words.
The scene is the Cloud City carbonite freezing chamber. Han Solo is about to be lowered into the chamber, when Princess Leia makes the ultimate confession, “I love you!” And Han responds, “Just remember that, Leia, because I’ll be back.”
Suffice it to say, the line just didn’t jive. The director of The Empire Strikes Back, Irvin Kershner, was stumped, but fortunately, Harrison Ford had a suggestion. So when the scene was shot once more, and Leia delivered her line of “I love you!” Han responded again, this time with just two words:
“I know.”
Joe Prescott: There’s a few good behind-the-scenes stories surrounding the saga. A few spring to mind for me. A favourite of mine comes from the early-development stages of character construction in which Chewie was almost depicted wearing shorts as the Fox studio execs figured he’d be censored for wearing just his bandolier and no underwear.
Mark Hamill recalls what he’d overheard with regards to Chewie’s clothing choices:
"“I remember the memos from 20th Century Fox, ‘Can you put a pair of lederhosen on the Wookie [sic]?’ All they could think of was, ‘This character has no pants on!’ This went back and forth. They did sketches of him in culottes and baggy shorts.”"
So we nearly got a Bavarian-style Wookiee (I’m sure there’s a pun in there somewhere, feel free to comment!) and a high ranking Imperial Officer with adorably cosy footwear!
Mike Valverde: After seven films and nearly 40 years, there are going to be some fun stories that take place behind the scenes. One of the most replayed bloopers came in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. You may have seen this without even being a Star Wars fan.
The scene takes place inside the Death Star, and the Stormtroopers are on a mission to capture the rebels. When the door opens, and the troopers march out, one unlucky member of the unit literally “head-bangs” himself on the raised door as he was walking through.
Laurie Goode has a good explanation of why it happened, via The Telegraph:
"“I must have eaten a bit of food that was off. I put this Stormtrooper’s costume on, got on the set and as soon as I put it on I wanted to go to the loo. I took the costume off in this cubicle; juggling myself about trying to get it all off, hanging it up. Went to the loo, put it all back on again, got on the set and then wanted to go back to the loo again! I couldn’t concentrate, I was shuffling along, and I hit my head. No one said ‘Cut’, so I’m thinking to myself I’m not in shot and when it came out, I thought, ‘That’s me!'”"
If you would like to hear more about this and his several roles in A New Hope, check out the show 6 Towns Radio.