Daisy Ridley and John Boyega were both relatively obscure actors when they began shooting The Force Awakens. So it must have been pretty surreal to suddenly be filming scenes with that solid gold icon of cinema, Harrison Ford. Even getting Ford for the project seems like it must have been an uphill task, as his hobbies these days are less acting and more getting stoned and flying a plane around. But, probably down to the promise that this would put a capstone on Han Solo’s story, Ford showed up and delivered an excellent performance.
Not only that, but apparently he was great fun to work with. John Boyega appeared on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon recently to promote Star Wars: The Last Jedi and spoke of Ford’s absence during the shoot, saying:
“It’s a different change when you’re coming on to the next movie and Harrison Ford is not there. Han Solo is not there. It’s the reality of Han Solo’s death, and it’s just mad, but whenever I can see him it’s great times.”
Boyega went on to explain that most of the cast and crew kept a reverential distance from Ford. Given his reputation as a bit of a grump, this isn’t surprising. But Boyega still unleashed his inner fan:
Everybody else was really modest and kind and sincere, whereas I was just like ‘Can I have a hug, please?’
No doubt they’ll be going through something similar when it comes to the filming of Star Wars: Episode IX after the untimely death of Carrie Fisher, and let’s face it, there’s every chance that Luke might pull an Obi-Wan and not make it to the credits of The Last Jedi. I sure hope he does, though, as Hamill, Fisher and Ford have done great work in this new trilogy and helped it to capture some of the magic that’s made it the most loved movie series on the planet.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is set to open big, without Harrison Ford, unfortunately, on December 15th.
