Curse of Star Wars strikes again as Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill nearly dies

Still doing his own stunts, that Hamill is a beast!

Also, how cool is it for a guy like Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker and the Joker, to have his face on a stamp!?
 
What "Curse of Star Wars"?! Like there is some huge list of deaths that have occurred during the filming of all 7 movies?! Seriously WHAT Curse? The only curse I ever heard of is the burden the actors carry of never having a normal life again being known for Star Wars. Harrison Ford's accident was on set of 7, but by no stretch would you title this a curse. That's just a flipping dangerous location. Period.
 
wow! so glad he is alright. special thanks to the tour guides quick reaction and catching him
 
What "Curse of Star Wars"?! Like there is some huge list of deaths that have occurred during the filming of all 7 movies?! Seriously WHAT Curse? The only curse I ever heard of is the burden the actors carry of never having a normal life again being known for Star Wars. Harrison Ford's accident was on set of 7, but by no stretch would you title this a curse. That's just a flipping dangerous location. Period.

I was thinking the exact same thing! Just another case of sensationalism by the media. :facepalm
 
What "Curse of Star Wars"?! Like there is some huge list of deaths that have occurred during the filming of all 7 movies?! Seriously WHAT Curse? The only curse I ever heard of is the burden the actors carry of never having a normal life again being known for Star Wars. Harrison Ford's accident was on set of 7, but by no stretch would you title this a curse. That's just a flipping dangerous location. Period.

I was thinking the exact same thing! Just another case of sensationalism by the media. :facepalm

Mark Hamill had a near fatal car accident between filming of Star Wars and Empire, with facial surgery necessary (thus the Wampa attack scenes).
 
Unless he was almost killed by a sandstorm in Tunisia, this is not the curse you're looking for.

Move along. Move along.
 
Mark Hamill had a near fatal car accident between filming of Star Wars and Empire, with facial surgery necessary (thus the Wampa attack scenes).

I've heard this my whole life but then I heard it was just a myth. I dont know what to believe :confused
 
Yeah, its legit, they needed a reason why his face looked different, so wampa fist to the face did the trick.
 
Are we sure that shouldn't be called the Corvette Summer curse?

In seriousness, I think the bit about "They added the wampa stuff to cover up his scars" is nonsense. Again, look at pictures from Corvette Summer, which came out in '78 and was filmed much sooner after the accident than ESB. What don't you see? Right. Scars. Now some of that could be makeup covering it, but he doesn't have major scars today, either, so I'm inclined to think that the whole legend about this is nonsense. Also, they show his face perfectly clearly before the wampa attack, so it's not like the attack explains it. I remember seeing the film for the first time as a little kid and thinking "why does Luke look different?" It never really made sense to me, and the wampa attack didn't explain it either.

To me, it looks like he smashed his nose up badly, lost the tip of it and a little of the bridge...and that's about it. Otherwise, it's the same face he always had. It's like the way people think Jennifer Grey looked TOTALLY DIFFERENT after she had what's actually a very VERY minor nose job.
 
I recall that being refuted, in fact. By whom I don't recall, so take that for what it's worth.
 
Rinzler addressed it pretty thoroughly in his Making of ESB tome. The wampa stuff was already planned before the accident. He had no scars that needed to be justified (indeed, his face was just fine for the pre-wampa scenes, and scars don't heal fast enough for him to have been scar-free for the rest of principle photography if they'd been present). So the legend is half true.

Still not a curse, though.

--Jonah
 
I could swear I read an interview with Mark, maybe in Starlog, where he said the accident was nowhere near as bad as reported.
 
Okay, partially right on all counts. *heh* Mark had his accident in January of '77 on his way to shoot pickups for Star Wars. George had early notes and his first treatment for ESB (mid-to-late-'77) have Luke crash or get whacked in the face to explain scars that nay or may not be there by the time filming commenced. Regarding the accident (in Rinzler's Making of ESB):

His car skidded on a California freeway and turned over several times. His face was badly injured, and it took the actor months to recover.

"It was about 6 o'clock in the evening," Hamill says. "I had a brand-new BMW and I was playing a tape on the sound system. It had terrific sound. Also, in a car like that you can lose sight of how fast you're going -- I'd always driven clunky cars. Then, suddenly, I realized I was on the wrong freeway and it might take me an hour and 45 minutes to find my way back. It was a split-second decision. I saw my exit ramp three lanes over and I thought I could make it, so I turned the wheel sharply. Well, I was going about 70 and the car flipped."

"They operated from about 9 in the morning until about 4 in the afternoon," Gary Kurtz says. "I saw him at 4:30 and Mark said, 'Oh, I'm sorry I got delayed. As soon as I get out of here this afternoon, we can go.' He evidently had no idea what he looked like."

"I'd fractured my nose and cheekbone," Hamill says. "My plastic surgeon took cartilage from my ear and built up my nose."

He wallowed in self-pity for a bit, but eventually came back around. As he healed the differences became minor, and he and George felt they were easily explained by post-adolescent refinement plus several years fighting for the Rebellion and probably occasionally being injured. In other words, Luke grew up between films, and I think this actually helped George take that tack. Still, considering principle photography didn't start for another two years (and change), he had plenty of time to heal.

--Jonah
 
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