Mark Hamill: ‘I Regret Voicing My Doubts’ on ‘Last Jedi’
Mark Hamill retracted his recent criticisms of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, congratulating director Rian Johnson for his work on the project. “I regret voicing my doubts & insecurities in public,” the Luke Skywalker actor tweeted Tuesday. “Creative differences are a common element of any project but usually remain private. All I wanted was to make a good movie. I got more than that – Rian Johnson made an all-time GREAT one!”
Hamill’s celebratory shout-out came in response to a tweet quoting a mid-December IMDB interview in which the actor said, “I’ve had trouble accepting what [Johnson] saw for Luke, but again, I mean, I have to say, having seen the movie, I was wrong. I think being pushed out of your comfort zone is a good thing because if I was just another benevolent Jedi training young padawans, we’ve seen it!”
The actor, who has starred as the iconic Skywalker since 1977, recently made headlines for criticizing Johnson’s handling of the character. In a widely circulated video interview, he admitted, “I almost had to think of Luke as another character. Maybe he’s Jake Skywalker – he’s not my Luke Skywalker.”
Hamill’s comments didn’t affect ticket sales: While The Last Jedi fell short of The Force Awakens‘ record-shattering box office numbers, it still established the second-best opening weekend of all-time with over $220 million.
Early Wednesday morning, Hamill marked the one-year anniversary of Star Wars co-star Carrie Fisher’s death with a poignant Instagram post. “No one’s ever really gone…#AlwaysWithUs #CarrieOnForever,” the actor wrote, alongside two on-set photos and a painting of the Princess Leia actress.