Mark Hamill talks Star Wars: The Force Awakens secrets, plus new still

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

I'm fairly certain that anyone even remotely involved with STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS had to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and Mark Hamill explained his NDA during a conversation with PC Gamer. Hamill told the site he isn't actually authorized to tell people he's in THE FORCE AWAKENS, and that "I have something coming out where there's an amount of money that if it leaks because of me, I don't get that payment. If I keep it a secret until the day it comes out, I get that payment.

The actor is no stranger to keeping secrets though, and said although he knew THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK plot twist well in advance, he didn't reveal it to anyone, including his wife and co-star Harrison Ford.

I'm good about keeping secrets. I'm proud of the fact that I knew a year and a half before anybody else that [Darth Vader] was actually dad-Vader. I didn't even tell Harrison, or my wife, because I thought it would be terrible if she said "you know what" to a fan and it got out, because [Empire Strikes Back director] Irvin Kershner said 'I know something, I'm going to tell you. George [Lucas] knows, I know and now I'm gonna tell you, and if it leaks, we'll know it's you', because the line originally was 'you don't know the truth, Obi Wan killed your father' and he said 'we're going to take that line out and put in 'I am your father'.

I thought, well first of all if Sir Alec Guinness is the real villain, that's a pretty good twist in and of itself, but this is even better. I couldn't believe it. I was so excited. It was a mind-boggling plot twist. I still remember when we saw the first screening Harrison turned to me and said, 'You never told me that.' I said, 'I know but I would have gotten in trouble if I told you!' And now it's happening all over again.

Some have taken Hamill's comments above as confirmation that THE FORCE AWAKENS will have a plot twist similar to the one from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, which might be the case, but I have a feeling it won't be the only surprise in the film.

In other THE FORCE AWAKENS news, Empire has the latest look at Adam Driver's Kylo Ren, and Driver also told the site that he sees Ren as more of a religious fanatic than a villain in the traditional sense, saying "When they think of their actions as morally justified it makes them dangerous and unpredictable. There’s no level they won’t go to to accomplish what they’re after. I never thought of the character as an evil person.”

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS hits theaters on December 18th.