Mark Hamill Says Episode VIII Will Make You Forget About 'May The Force Be With You'

In London earlier this morning, Mark Hamill kicked off Star Wars Celebration 2016 with a one-man panel, in which he teased revealing one big secret from Star Wars: Episode VIII, but joked that he's contractually forbidden to discuss anything about the upcoming film. "It's funny because you spent all of this money, and I can't talk about Star Wars," he mused.

Hamill went on to answer questions from fans, the first being about Skellig Michael, the location in Ireland where they filmed Luke Skywalker's scene in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Hamill says that the weather was brutal, and the climb to the top of the hill took forever. He said that the actual time it took Daisy Ridley's Rey character to reach him was about four hours, and they just shortened it to a few minutes.

When asked about collectibles, something Hamill indulges in, Hamill remembers reading the script for Star Wars: A New Hope for the first time. "It reads like a toy box," he exclaimed. "There are floating cars, there are fire-swords, and robots. So I said to George [Lucas], ‘Can I get on a list where I get one of everything?’ And he said, ‘Sure.’ I thought there’d be a poster, there’ll be a comic book, and a T-shirt maybe or a record album.” he then said he was bombarded with a near endless stream of toys.

Hamill was then asked what his reaction to his silent role in The Force Awakens was. "It was a great surprise, but I don't think they prepared me correctly," he recalled. "I went to training, lost all of this weight, and did all of these things, and I thought I must be doing something physical if they are sending me to the gym twice a week and torturing me physically." He was then told, 'You know all that work you did, you're going to have to turn and remove your hood." He couldn't believe it. He said, "Oh, I have to lie down for it minute." He compared it to having a friend watch your house, and when you return and ask how it went, he bluntly says "Well, your cat died."

After he read The Force Awakens' script, he thought his first appearance would be when the saber waggled in the forest. He excited said "What a great entrance!" And then Rey caught it. "She hasn’t even been to Dagobah for training! What’s the deal?”

Although Hamill joked early on that he wouldn't talk about Episode VIII, he did say “I was looping Episode VIII yesterday, and there’s dialogue in there, and I thought, ‘Oh boy, I can already see this on a T-shirt. [Director] Rian Johnson is amazing. He’ll make you forget all about ‘May the Force be with you.’ He’s come up with so many new catchphrases.”