Harrison Ford Wasn’t Always A Fan Of George Lucas’ Star Wars Writing
Lucasfilm By Joshua Meyer/Nov. 19, 2022 1:30 pm EST
In the past, George Lucas himself has admitted that he’s not exactly a wordsmith when it comes to movie dialogue. In 1999, just as the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy was getting underway with “The Phantom Menace,” Lucas spoke at length to Empire magazine about his utilitarian attitude toward dialogue, saying things like, “I’m aware that dialogue isn’t my strength,” and, “I’d be the first person to say I can’t write dialogue.”
If he’d be the first, then Harrison Ford would surely be the second. An oft-repeated story about Ford and Lucas and clunky “Star Wars” dialogue involves the Han Solo actor telling the “New Hope” writer-director: “George, you can type this s***, but you can’t say it.” In 2017, with “The Force Awakens” in his rearview mirror, Ford elaborated on the origin of that quote and how it started out as a joke on set. He told GQ:
“George usually sits near a monitor, far removed, so I had to convey my impression … or my feelings … about the dialogue across a great space. So I did shout it. ‘George! You can type this s***, but you sure can’t say it! Move your mouth when you’re typing!’ But it was a joke, at the time. A stress-relieving joke.”
The famously grumpy Ford also conceded that Lucas “doesn’t give a s*** what I think,” having sold his company, Lucasfilm, to Disney for $4 billion.
Harrison Ford Wasn’t Always A Fan Of George Lucas’ Star Wars Writing
Lucasfilm
By Joshua Meyer/Nov. 19, 2022 1:30 pm EST
In the past, George Lucas himself has admitted that he’s not exactly a wordsmith when it comes to movie dialogue. In 1999, just as the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy was getting underway with “The Phantom Menace,” Lucas spoke at length to Empire magazine about his utilitarian attitude toward dialogue, saying things like, “I’m aware that dialogue isn’t my strength,” and, “I’d be the first person to say I can’t write dialogue.”
If he’d be the first, then Harrison Ford would surely be the second. An oft-repeated story about Ford and Lucas and clunky “Star Wars” dialogue involves the Han Solo actor telling the “New Hope” writer-director: “George, you can type this s***, but you can’t say it.” In 2017, with “The Force Awakens” in his rearview mirror, Ford elaborated on the origin of that quote and how it started out as a joke on set. He told GQ:
“George usually sits near a monitor, far removed, so I had to convey my impression … or my feelings … about the dialogue across a great space. So I did shout it. ‘George! You can type this s***, but you sure can’t say it! Move your mouth when you’re typing!’ But it was a joke, at the time. A stress-relieving joke.”
The famously grumpy Ford also conceded that Lucas “doesn’t give a s*** what I think,” having sold his company, Lucasfilm, to Disney for $4 billion.
If he’d be the first, then Harrison Ford would surely be the second. An oft-repeated story about Ford and Lucas and clunky “Star Wars” dialogue involves the Han Solo actor telling the “New Hope” writer-director: “George, you can type this s***, but you can’t say it.” In 2017, with “The Force Awakens” in his rearview mirror, Ford elaborated on the origin of that quote and how it started out as a joke on set. He told GQ:
The famously grumpy Ford also conceded that Lucas “doesn’t give a s*** what I think,” having sold his company, Lucasfilm, to Disney for $4 billion.
“George usually sits near a monitor, far removed, so I had to convey my impression … or my feelings … about the dialogue across a great space. So I did shout it. ‘George! You can type this s***, but you sure can’t say it! Move your mouth when you’re typing!’ But it was a joke, at the time. A stress-relieving joke.”
Kill your darlings (and Dai Nogas)
Years later, it would be Lucas who made the first call to Ford in an attempt to lure him back to the “Star Wars” franchise for “The Force Awakens.” Ford had once called for the death of Han Solo in “Return of the Jedi,” but he said that the beloved character’s demise was “not necessarily” a prerequisite for him to come back to “Star Wars.” He simply saw it as “an interesting development of the character.”
