Mark Hamill Shares Another Fun BTS Image From 'The Empire Strikes Back'
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back took the hero's journey in the galaxy far, far away on a dark turn. Before Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker over-confidently headed to Cloud City in an effort to save his friends, he was earlier seen on Dagobah undergoing Jedi training with Master Yoda, during which he was encouraged by the old master to enter a dark cave to confront his greatest enemy.
Upon facing off a vision of Darth Vader, Luke valiantly defeated the "Sith Lord" and sliced off his head, only to realize that beneath the mask was not the dark lord but himself. The ominous shot gave Luke the lesson that instead of naively seeing Darth Vader as his greatest enemy, it was the the risk of falling to the dark side that was his greatest fear he had to overcome. While this served as a solemn calling to the young Jedi, Mark Hamill's cheeky behind-the-scene revelations did manage to lighten up the mood of the scene.
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In a recent post on Instagram, the star behind the young Jedi revealed that the scene was actually shot with his real head extending from below the stage into the helmet. Hamill described that the producers' original plan was to place a molded prop head inside the helmet, but he insisted for his real head to be under the camera as he was "dissatisfied" with how the head turned out. (With a lack of advanced CGI and sophisticated modelling technology at that time, the prop head may understandably end up off-putting, taking the realism out of the famous scene.) Sharing two photos in the post, it can be seen that Hamill truly gave his very best during the shoot of the iconic moment in the movie, especially with his struggle to not blink or tear up from the smoke blown across the face for the scene's effects.
The caption reads:
"THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (BEHIND THE SCENES)
On Camera: All Business Between Takes: The Real Me. Dissatisfied with the look of my molded prop head, we reshot this scene by putting my real head into the helmet from under the stage. Hardest part was not blinking or shedding a tear as they wafted smoke across my face. True story. What can I say? #ImJustASlaveToMyArt 👍"
As an ardent fan himself, Mark Hamill has a strong social media presence in sharing fun facts and daily life moments about Star Wars, particularly for his character. Recent posts on Instagram included a joking recreation of the Hoth ice cave scene with a Luke figurine stuck upside down in a freezer, and a re-post of a fan concept of a Lego meme set for Luke's hand and lightsaber after being cut off by Darth Vader. Hamill's Star Wars humor is also frequently seen on Twitter. For example, on May 25 earlier this year, Museum Archive tweeted, "A group of archaeologists discovered this 3,300 year old claw of the now-extinct bird, "Moa," with flesh and muscles still attached to it." Mark Hamill then retweeted this with the caption, "Excuse me, but I recognize a Rancor's hand when I see one. 👀"
BTS moments have always been a fun addition to Star Wars content, and Mark Hamill has certainly contributed greatly to this via social media, making him even more loveable as an actor truly passionate for his craft.
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Written By Geoff Lo
Source(s): Screen Rant
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