The One Moment Mark Hamill Improvised In Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Much has been said about how Mark Hamill initially disagreed with writer/director Rian Johnson’s radically different interpretation of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. However, as the actor himself has explained, the duo never butted heads over their creative differences and Hamill was happy to perform Johnson’s script to the letter. Apart from, it seems, one small moment in the movie which the Star Wars legend simply had to change.

While appearing on Entertainment Tonight, Hamill revealed the tiny detail that he insisted was altered during the filming of The Last Jedi. It turns out that in the original version of the emotional scene where Luke reunites with his long-lost sister Leia, the Jedi didn’t acknowledge his old pal C-3PO whatsoever. Hamill pitched a brief moment between the pair to Johnson, however, and this wrong was thankfully righted.

“Initially, I didn’t acknowledge Threepio, I walked right past him. I said, ‘Rian, look it, after all those years of service, even though we haven’t been in contact in recent years, Threepio was the closest to a sidekick I had. Harrison had Chewie and I had Artoo and Threepio, but [Rian’s] so accommodating and so collaborative. He said, ‘Oh, absolutely, you should go over there.’ We didn’t really have time to script anything, just to acknowledge him, and that’s what I did.”

Once again, Mark Hamill proves he understands Star Wars and its character inside and out here. After all, it’s only right that Luke would reunite with Threepio in some form, after all they’ve been through.

In case you don’t remember, the sequence in question sees the droid offer an emotional “Master Luke!” as the Jedi steps out to fight his evil nephew, which Luke responds to with a silent wink. It might be slight, but it’s a very loaded scene that really speaks to the shared history that the duo have together. Kudos to Anthony Daniels and Hamill for performing this minuscule moment so well.

If Luke had ignored Threepio as planned, it might have caused a similar backlash to the infamous moment in The Force Awakens when Leia hugs Rey instead of Chewie after Han’s death. It was a tragic sidelining of the Wookie who had just lost his best friend – even J.J. Abrams admitted that he’d got that scene wrong. Maybe if Mark Hamill had been on set that day he would have fixed it?

Currently available across Digital HD, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is due to make a beeline for Blu-ray and DVD on Tuesday, March 27th. And though it’s sparked heated debate across the four corners of the Internet – debate that largely stemmed from Luke’s fate and the somewhat understated reveal of Rey’s parents – the sequel’s backlash won’t have any bearing on Rian Johnson’s future entries in the Star Wars universe.