The tragic and untimely death of Carrie Fisher (AKA the People’s Princess) undoubtedly amplified the emotional beats of Star Wars: The Last Jedi – so much so, in fact, that Mark Hamill can’t bring himself to watch Luke and Leia’s final scene on Crait.
Having spent much of Episode VIII in isolation, Hamill’s hermit returned at the 11th hour to distract the First Order – and Kylo Ren, specifically – and allow the Resistance to flee Crait with their lives intact. But before that tense Lightsaber duel between uncle and nephew, The Last Jedi delivered the moment fans had been crying out for: the reunion of the Skywalker twins.
And it included a little burst of spontaneity on Hamill’s part, as the actor revealed during a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight:
I didn’t decide it and say, ‘Can I do this?’ I mean, in the take — I don’t know if we rehearsed it or not, but it just happened. I was standing up and they weren’t ready for it. They said, ‘No, do that again.’ And we did it for a second take, and like I said, it was just spontaneous.
The Star Wars veteran went on to admit that he simply can’t bring himself to watch Luke and Leia’s final moments together, as Carrie Fisher is an “irreplaceable” talent who will be forever missed.
I can’t watch that scene. It’s just, you know, takes me out of the movie completely. I’ll get over it, but she’ll be forever missed and she’s irreplaceable.
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 sparked heated debate across the four corners of the Internet – debate that largely steemed 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.