In the early version of Star Wars, known only as Star Wars at that time, Luke Skywalker‘s surname was originally Starkiller. However, this name was eventually altered to the renowned and defining one we recognize today, which played a significant role in shaping the entire Star Wars saga spanning three trilogies.
But when the swap was done, Mark Hamill was not one of the first people to find out.
During an appearance on “This Morning,” Hamill shared memories from filming an eight-page screen test for the first movie alongside Harrison Ford. He confessed that at the time, he had no idea about the rest of the story, and he actually thought Ford would be the main character, while he’d be the leading man’s pesky teenage sidekick.
Hamill was taken aback to discover that things weren’t as he had assumed. Unfortunately, neither Ford nor Lucas provided additional insights when Hamill sought clarification. In fact, Lucas typically shied away from exploring the intricacies of his scenes and character actions, and Ford may have simply been channeling his inner Harrison Ford in this instance.
Hamill stated that Lucas, being the director, isn’t fond of discussing motivation or background details. Instead, he tends to choose actors who embody his vision so thoroughly that he prefers not to guide them excessively in their performances.
It turns out that Hamill had even more unexpected events ahead of him. Just a week after filming the Death Star rescue sequence in which his character first introduced himself to Leia as Luke Starkiller, he was asked to re-shoot the same scene, but this time as Luke Skywalker.
Following the reprise of the scene, Hamill revealed, “They asked us to perform it again the following week, and I inquired, ‘Why are we rehearsing this scene once more?’ They explained, ‘Your name has been changed.’ I asked, ‘To what then?’ To which they responded, ‘Skywalker.’ At first, I found myself accustomed to the original. But let’s be honest, Luke needed a bit of a tougher image. His new name sounded more like Luke Flyswatter. Frankly, I disliked it intensely.
During a podcast episode of Politickin’, Hamill shared that, in 2024, the production team felt Starkiller was excessively aggressive for Luke’s character. They found that this demographic of women aged 18 to 35 generally disliked characters with ‘killer’ or similar names in their titles.
Reflecting back, it’s hard to conceive of characters like Luke, Anakin, and Leia with the last name ‘Starkiller’, instead of ‘Skywalker’. However, the name Starkiller was employed for the character Galen Marek in the 2008 game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Though Galen Marek is now part of Legends, the name Starkiller continues to exist within the canon. It’s noteworthy that this name was given to the First Order’s base on a planet that was previously known as Ilum in the sequel movies, making it an enduring part of Star Wars lore.
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2025-08-20 14:22