Mark Hamill says he has no problems being de-aged if any future Star Wars film has the need for it. Conversations about digitally recreating actors, whether dead or alive, have become more commonplace in recent years, with the latest example being the discussion about how Star Wars 9 should handle Leia's sendoff. When Carrie Fisher untimely died in 2016, before Leia was to be featured front and center in Episode IX, some fans were left wondering if the latter film would recreate the actress by way of CGI (a la how Rogue One: A Star Wars Story brought back the late Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin). While Lucasfilm has since confirmed it has "no plans" to digitally recreate Fisher, Hamill seems more open to the idea of being digitally de-aged.
The CGI de-aging process has been notably used in several Marvel Studios films now, in order to create younger versions of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) in Ant-Man and Tony Stark (Robert Downer Jr.) in Captain America: Civil War, respectively. By comparison, the de-aged Kurt Russel in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was done mostly through practical makeup, so CGI isn't the only way to go to making actors looking like their younger selves. Nevertheless, digital de-aging techniques have come a long way since 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand - where a young Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen) were seen in a flashback sequence - and have started to become a more standard practice in Hollywood, because of that.
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Many are understandably still opposed to the idea and view it as disrespectful, especially when it's used to "resurrect" actors who have passed away. Hamill, on the other hand, seems to have no such problems with the idea. In fact, he's already told his family about it, as he revealed to Radio Times during an interview:
“Well already I told my family ‘Absolutely – thumbs up!’ But it is a question of propriety really. I’m sure they had to go to the Cushing estate and get their permission.”
Hamill also touched on the possibility of re-casting the role of Luke Skwaylker. In the past, the actor has named Sebastian Stan - who has bears an uncanny resemblance to the 20-something Hamill - and Jacob Tremblay as his personal picks to play the younger version of the Jedi Master:
“You know, it’s amazing to me – George [Lucas] gave them a canvas so large that they’re going to be able to– I mean, the possibilities are infinite. So who knows? They also ask me ‘What young actor do you think could play him?’ Sky’s the limit. And I’m sure they’re going to keep making these things long after I’m gone.”
Lucasfilm has already recast one iconic Star Wars movie character, with Alden Ehrenreich taking over for Harrison Ford as young Han Solo in this May's Solo: A Star Wars Story. Whether or not the studio made the right call in most people's eyes remains to be seen, but if they pull the casting off it will help to convince more fans that recasting may not be such a bad thing for the franchise - especially if it means we get to learn more about certain fan-favorite characters, as a result.
As of now though, nothing seems to call for the de-aging of Luke Skywalker. Despite Luke's physical death in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, there's nothing to prevent Episode IX director J.J. Abrams from bringing Hamill back as "Force Ghost Luke". Meanwhile, the other potential project that might call for a young Luke Skywalker appearance is the rumored Obi-Wan Kenobi movie, and even that isn't a sure thing to happen at this stage.
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Source: Radio Times
