Thursday, 18 March 2021

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: MEMORIES OF DAGOBAH...


On the immense Dagobah set, Mark Hamill takes time to pose for an above publicity image that would ultimately take thirty years to be published.

"They built this huge soundstage, I don't know what the specifics are, whether it's bigger than the James Bond sets or what. It looks like an airplane hangar. The completed set looks like Skull Island in the original King Kong, with roots and gnarly trees. the set was used twice. They first used it for the big ice planet scene where all the rebel forces are running around. They then struck that set and we went onto the middle part of the movie and all during those months they built the Swamp Planet. That set had a lot of depth to it; they used dry ice and vaporizing machines to create this real moody kind of atmosphere. There was a lagoon built on it. It was unbelievable. But then Carrie and Harrison were finished and went home, and it was just me left."


"It looks like so much fun up on the screen, but it can be a real pain in the neck, when you've got so many things that you have to get right technically. They don't care if you have spinach between your teeth. If the robot happens to do the right thing, it's a print. Or if the snakes or the smoke are right, it's a print. The smoke drove me crazy. They yell, 'More smoke. Get it in the background'."


"It gets very lonely when you're acting with only a piece of machinery, Kenny does play Artoo, but it's sort of a misnomer because there were so many Artoo units and they all look the same. I remember several times saying hello to the radio-controlled robot and then noticing Kenny over in the corner sitting there with a newspaper, drinking a tea."

Mark Hamill  - Questor magazine interview - 1980


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