Showing posts with label CASTING. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CASTING. Show all posts

Saturday 9 December 2017

'STAR WARS' AT 40: FINDING LUKE STARKILLER...

Feb 1976 - Tuesday tongue-twisters! Hamill goes through the six pages of script of his audition piece to George Lucas.

He was one of the last people to be casting-considered in November 1975 (his first call-in merely a talk with writer/director George Lucas and Brian DePalma (also testing for young leads for his movie, Carrie) about his life and family), and he was tested several times further by Lucas, especially alongside the in-the-running-for-Han-Solo Harrison Ford, but actor Mark Hamill, whom despite his youth was already a veteran of American seventies TV series guest star roles from Night Gallery to Petrocelli, would deservedly win the coveted star role of Luke Starkiller (later 'Skywalker') for Star Wars with his enthusiasm and sincerity, along the way going on to vividly remember one of the all-time biggest tongue twisting pieces of dialogue ever during one of his recorded auditions!

The rest, as they say, is history...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSjP2GBTr9U

Thursday 6 June 2013

BEHIND THE SCENES: THE SEARCH FOR HEROES...

Mark Hamill auditions with Harrison Ford- Feb 1976.

Mark Hamill delivers his tongue twister dialogue as Luke Skywalker to a weary Harrison Ford as Han Solo, during one of the 1975/76 screentests done in the US for the upcoming THE STAR WARS. Also testing for Leia was later BERLIN singer Terri Nunn (then aged 14), who, if she had played the role instead of the feisty Carrie Fisher, would probably have brought a quirkier charm to the role. Right now, with the upcoming EPISODE VII, new casting for new heroes and villains within the STAR WARS universe is fully underway, so this early and interesting footage (taped by Ben Burtt in one of his many early duties beyond sound design), is as relevant and enjoyable as ever...


Longer Mark Hamill Star Wars Audition - YouTube
Terri Nunn's Star Wars Audition.avi - YouTube

Intriguingly, as of 2018, no tapes have ever been released from the Lucasfilm archives of the test footage supposedly shot of Hamill, Fisher and Ford together (footage that Carrie Fisher confirmed in a 1997 interview to EMPIRE film magazine). However, when this was trio test footage was shot is unknown, as Hamill was cast very late in the day-only a short time before filming began in Tunisia in March 1976.

Presumably, if trio footage was shot of Ford, Fisher and Hamill, then tape must exist of the other trio hopefuls together that were Will Selzer, Christopher Walken and Terri Nunn...

2013 ADD ONS: Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz: 'Doing open auditions makes sense' | Film | theguardian.com

Sylvester Stallone auditioned for Star Wars and "hates" Arnold Schwarzenegger