Mark Hamill has revealed how he spent ages dieting to reprise his role as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The 64-year-old actor – who is reunited with Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, his co-stars from the original trilogy in the upcoming seventh instalment – admitted he lost 50 pounds for the role, by eating more healthily and embarking on a brutal training regime.
Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker (Fox/AP)
He told Rolling Stone: “Look at what I’m eating now instead of potato chips and bagels,” pointing to a fruit-and-vegetable plate. “I’m on the ‘if it tastes good, don’t eat it’ diet.”
But Mark prefers not to be complimented on his new look, adding: “It implies that I looked so dreadful before!”
Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill featured in the earlier films (AP)
The star admitted he had mixed feelings and was in a “state of shock” when he found out he would be back for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
He said: “We’re all in a great place and we’ve all done it before. There was a beginning, middle and end. You have to think about all the aspects, ’cause if you wanna maintain a low profile, this isn’t the best way to do it!”
And he found himself hoping that Harrison wouldn’t do it.
“I said, ‘The ace in the hole is, Harrison’s not gonna do this. Why would he?’ So that’s our escape clause. You know, if I’m the only one, I’ll look terrible – but if he doesn’t do it, I don’t have to do it.”
Harrison Ford (Rob Latour/Invision)
Meanwhile, Harrison revealed he had expected his alter-ego, Han Solo, to be killed off at the end of Return Of The Jedi.
“I didn’t have the imagination to recognise the future potential for the character,” he said.
“I was only going to do three of them, so I wanted to use the character to supply some bass notes, some gravitas. I thought to continue to be the wise-cracking cynic was not, perhaps… But if they’d done that then, I wouldn’t have this experience, which I think is worthy.”
Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in UK cinemas on December 17.
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