The Skywalker Legacy

Let me ask you a question, where are you guys from?

- San Diego. - Yay.

And what'd you do? You drove here? Why'd you drive here?

- We wanted to see this. - See it.

Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill

and Carrie Fisher and Billy Dee Williams are here.

When you watch the movies,

you can tell that they were made by people who really cared

about what they were doing.

Seeing this part of it filmed, and there's all of the props around,

and there's people lying on the ground, and it's all cruddy,

but you know that they're going to take it back and put in the opticals,

and it's going to be totally different.

- I mean, we're all... - So there's a magic to that.

- We're all in Tatooine right now. - Yeah.

So it's terrific, you know.

By the time all nine films are done, it's gonna be like, I mean, I don't...

I'm afraid to see what you guys are gonna come up with.

It's gonna be amazing.

I've always called it a space fantasy,

designed to be a modern fairy tale.

Hopefully it will, you know, justify it as a series,

make you say, "gee, what happens next?"

The real satisfaction will come out of completing what we started out to do.

And I don't think there's been anything quite like this, you know?

A beginning, a middle, and an end.

It is the final chapter.

It's the big finish.

So, all stops are out, and, uh, it's all go.

Friends, it's that time again.

To Mr. j.J. Abrams, I'd say a happy day one on star wars. Episode ix.

- Hip, hip... - Hooray!

- Hip, hip... - Hooray!

Thank you, all, again. Back to work.

Today is day one of episode ix,

and we're starting on the falcon,

which is, uh, incredibly surreal to be back.

I never in a million years, never thought I'd be back on this set.

I'm so excited.

It's not remotely what I'm sure it was like

for the legacy actors to come back at all.

But it is a strange thing to return to a place that you have fond memories

and feel like you got to do something very special,

and sort of dodged a crazy bullet, and was like, "il did it."

And now to be back here feels, uh, really weird.

We came into that first movie with a lot of trepidation.

All of us knew that we had this huge weight on our shoulders.

And now, to have everybody coming back and working together,

it's kind of like the family coming back together.

I can't believe it.

And that's made it really nice.

We all know each other. The crew are used to each other...

Oh, my gosh.

And now to finish it off with j.J. Is a blessing, you know?

And so I just get to enjoy my job.

It's not just the end of three movies, it's the end of nine movies.

There's a lot to consider, but I couldn't be more grateful.

And I couldn't be more comforted by the company I'm in.

I come to star wars first and foremost as a fan.

So I have extremely high expectations.

And the world of it means so much to me that I'm not easy on it.

And so we haven't been easy on ourselves.

This is their creative faces.

They're creatively trying to come to a decision

and they do faces like that 'cause that's what they do.

It's how we create... To kind of make real star wars decisions.

Hey... do that thing where...

What'd he say? I'm gonna rewind this and watch it.

Every day we ask ourselves,

"how do you end the story that George Lucas started so many years ago?"

"How do you end this myth that's become a myth for the whole world?"

- Rolling. - Rolling.

Moving. And we're flying.

Set, and action.

Action.

The fun begins.

How long before you can make the jump to light speed?

Take a few minutes for the navi-computer to calculate the coordinates.

A few minutes? Are you kidding? At the rate they're gaining?

Uh... no, what is it?

"Traveling through hyperspace..."

Do you have to shoot this?

Traveling through hyperspace is like dusting...

It ain't like dusting crops, kid,

without precise calculations, we fly too close to a star...

Then bounce into a supermarket and then...

- Yeah. - It'd be a hell of a mess.

What's that?

Watch... We're losing the deflector shields.

Go strap yourselves in. Be careful on the way out.

Yeah, sure. I'm taking it very cautiously.

Okay, cut.

You.

Go away with that.

- "Bounce too near a supermarket”? - What did you say?

It's a righteous challenge, you know?

I think for the last movie there is such expectation

and such investment in these characters.

- Where are you skipping to, poe? - Scary places.

Roll.

Seeing poe and Finn and Chewie in the cockpit

has been an extremely fun and sweet start.

And now we're doing a quick test with Daisy.

- It's so pretty, the thing. It's so nice. - Nice, huh?

We're kind of trying to finalize the look.

I haven't seen it. I mean, I saw the rough...

- I like it. - An outward reflection of my inner soul.

Um...

Uh... what's going on”? How are you?

I'm having a proper lack... I couldn't sleep last night.

It's been quite a long buildup of freaking out.

Yeah, it's nerve-racking.

I don't really know how to describe it,

but I feel more the expectation of what people want for the last chapter.

I do remember what my first week was like because we were in Abu Dhabi.

You're on Fatima and then you look at the ship.

It's sort of the same levels of nerves, actually.

There we go, that's better.

So I remember it vividly.

And the whole week was like... And it was both amazing and terrifying.

I was doing my walk along the desert,

taking off my stormtrooper gear.

There you go.

It was very hot, and everything looked very big to me.

I was like, "why is this camera so big?” like, "why everything is huge?"

Um... but it was fun. I was getting used to a whole new world.

When Oscar came in to audition,

obviously I had the role before, and Oscar hadn't done much...

It was more of a technicality.

I mean, I, you know, I wouldn't call it an audition...

An audition. More of a read.

It was more of a...

But he read the scene, and I was kind of like,

"j.j., what are you doing, man? It's him. Come on. Let's stop wasting time, man."

And it's nice to be able to actualize that chemistry that we had on that first read.

Thanks for a great, great first day back. Thank you very much.

We made it one day. Day one.

/f is my honor to be the one lo introduce back to this universe...

Mr. Billy Dee Williams.

I am quite pleased about this whole situation

coming back as an elder statesman.

Will you die in the movie?

Uh, no. Not yet, anyway.

No, I understand they want to carry this character on.

Continue... I think he's going to be part of the heroes.

Well, look at you. A general, huh?

You look damn good, that's all I'm gonna say. Let's do it.

- And go, background. - Action.

I love the whole idea of a movie like this,

because it talks about the classic question, you know, about good and evil,

and what prevails and what doesn't prevail.

- There's something to gawk at. Billy Dee. - Trust me.

You said it, Chewie.

One last time.

- And sound speed. - Thirty-eight apple. Take one.

Could have used your help out there.

- How'd it go? - Not well, actually.

It is the first movie that, you know,

that, ostensibly, this new generation had to carry on their own.

As the end of v///left the resistance, you know, in kind of pieces,

they've set up camp quickly with what they've been able to resource and access.

It's weird coming back and kind of feeling this, like,

earned confidence of having done it before,

but also knowing that there are still going to be times

when you're figuring things out, and it's different and new and scary.

But you can get through it with the people that you're working with.

- I love it. - I liked it too, it was really good.

- Joonas coming through. - I say, hurry up.

Making j.J. Laugh is my number two priority, you know?

Get the shot, nail the acting, make j.J. Laugh.

Go, background!

The challenge for the designers and for j.J.

Was to create an environment that looks temporary and sort of ad hoc,

but also has a bit of the soul of star wars in it.

Looking amazing, guys.

When I'm in there, I say, "gonk, gonk, gonk."

Look straight, yeah, that's it.

That's amazing, really incredible.

Bloody hell. How much you lifting in the gym, bro?

- We have a whole situation in here, boy. - Yeah, man.

Put a microwave in, a little TV on the side...

- That's what I'm going for. - Home sweet home.

As we decided that we would link this place with Leia's past,

it all started to come together.

Kevin has the idea we could put the blockade runner in the middle of the cave,

and that's why they're hiding out.

That way, every time you turn around, you're going to see the blockade runner.

The blockade runner is the first ship that you ever see in star wars,

the ship that is running from the imperial star destroyer.

It's the first time we ever see Princess Leia.

It was trying to link this last film all the way back with the very first film

by saying, "this is how we've introduced her,

and this is how we finish her journey within star wars."

Okay, guys. Walk away. Quick, quick. Go, go.

When we were doing v///,

she knew that that movie was very much han's story.

And then v///was very much Luke's.

You know, the thing she had said was that /x'should be Leia's.

Uh, and that's really something that we've tried to do.

We lost Carrie before the movie began, so that was our first discussion, really.