Luke Skywalker speaks – finally – in the upcoming "Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi," but Mark Hamill told The New York Times he has come to terms with the wait.
Hamill was the focal point of the original "Star Wars" in 1977 and its following sequels in "The Empire Strikes Back" in 1980, and "Return of the Jedi" in 1983. When the movie series moved forward 30 years in 2015, Hamill was limited to a non-speaking part at the end of the movie.
The Times said Hamill's Luke Skywalker character was withheld for "maximum anticipation," which he accepted as a gift to him and his character.
"It is, if you can be objective about it," Hamill told the newspaper. "… But I'm enjoying all the residual attention that the movie's getting. I should be, by all rights, puttering in my garden with a metal detector, telling kids to get off my lawn. What's not to love?"
Hamill told the Times while he doesn't deny his disappointment of not doing more in "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens," he appreciates what the newspaper called his "extended cameo."
"When they talk about you that much in a movie before you even show up, that's fabulous," Hamill said.
As previews role out for "The Last Jedi," it looks like Hamill will again get his share of the action with the series' new stars and the late Carrie Fisher, who returns in the role of Princess Leia.
Director Rian Johnson told the Times that now with "The Last Jedi" the spotlight will be back on Hamill as fans have waited long enough for his full return to the series.
"I told him, everyone is going to be leaning forward for your first words in this," Johnson said to the newspaper. "Obviously, Mark came into this one with higher expectations for what we do with the character."
"The Force Awakens" made a monster $2.06 billion at the box office, some $936 million of that domestically, according to Box Office Mojo.
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