Most Star Wars fans already know the story of how Mark Hamill learned the big surprise twist in The Empire Strikes Back that Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker’s father. But, in an interview with StarWars.com, Hamill shared the story in his own words of how that all played out. Once he did finally learn the secret, he had to keep it to himself for over a year. He said:
One day before shooting the big scene with Skywalker and Vader, director Ivan Kershner pulled Hammill aside for a routine script change. Hamill shared:
“In the script that everyone got, the line was, ‘You don’t know the truth. Obi-Wan killed your father.’ I thought, ‘That’s a major twist!’ If Alec Guinness is the ultimate bad guy, I didn’t see that coming.”
Then, just before shooting the scene, Kershner revealed the even bigger twist that would change everything for Luke. It’s the moment where Darth Vader would tell Luke, “No, I am your father.” Hamill went on to talk about the burden of keeping this a secret:
“Kershner said, ‘I’m going to tell you something. I know it. George knows it. And when I tell you, you’ll know it. But that means, that’s only three people. So if it leaks, we’ll know it’s you.’ So the burden of keeping that a secret for over a year, maybe a year and a half, it was enormous. It was immense. Like I say, there was no social media and I wouldn’t leak it anyway, but I talk in my sleep. I was terrified having that knowledge.”
Harrison Ford actually got a little mad that he was kept out of the loop on and found out at the first cast screening of the film. Hamill explained:
“Harrison turned to me when that happens and said ‘You didn’t effing tell me that.’ I said, ‘I was afraid! I was too afraid!’ And during the shoot, no one on set was the wiser. Other than that the scene played exactly as it did. It surprised everyone!”
Hamill went on to talk about what he liked and appreciated about The Empire Strikes Back that other sequels just weren’t doing:
“One of the things about the movie that I liked is a lot of the time sequels just try to repeat the experience of the first film that it’s based on. In the case of Star Wars, it would be one of those almost amusement park rides that you just strap in and go along for the ride and have the euphoric triumphant ending, and everyone lives happily ever after and it’s thrilling and all that. But this one was so much more cerebral. There was a spirituality about the Force in the first one, but this one, with the addition of a character like Yoda, it just knocked me out reading it. It was so much deeper. It was so much more challenging to the audience and, of course, so dark and so shocking that it ended with us defeated, you know? And Harrison turned into a coffee table. It was tragic all-around. It was just terrible. But it was really exciting to me. I thought, This is sort of the make or break.’ If this one doesn’t resonate with the public, the future of the franchise -- and at that time I was only thinking the trilogy -- it’s pivotal that this movie connects….I thought if this one tanks or the audience rejects it, we’re all in big trouble.”
But it didn’t tank! The Empire Strikes Back is now considered to be one of the best movie sequels of all time. It’s wild looking back at those original Star Wars films and what the franchise has become.
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