19. The Empire Strikes Back Director Was Meticulous
The director of The Empire Strikes Back, Irvin Kershner, was actually Lucas instructor at college and initially turned down the offer of directing the film until his agent persuaded him to do it. Kersh, as he was later affectionately nicknamed, had much more interest in working with the actors than Lucas did. He would encourage group discussions, improvisations and shot many takes. Even though he had Mark Hamill bang his head 16 times in the Yoda scene until he was satisfied, the actors still considered him the best director to work with, finding him very helpful and supportive. Maybe theres the reason why its arguably considered the best one.
18. The Actors Had To Change Lucas Lines
So its not just us. The dialogue in Star Wars doesnt hold them back, but it doesnt necessarily help either. Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford in particular found their dialogue difficult, saying, you can type this, but you cant say it. Ford eventually convinced Lucas to let him change several lines though sometimes he deliberately didnt learn them to be more spontaneous, such as the intercom conversation in the cellblock. His improv also lead to the famous I know line. Better let Ford take the quill next time when its dialogue time.
Recently graduated from University of Hertfordshire with a Film & Television Production degree. Usually found watching films, listening to music, writing for whatculture and writing reviews for awardscircuit.com and my blog.
