Are the Original STAR WARS Actors Too Old for the New Movies? [Rant]

So, it’s been confirmed
that three of the original Star Wars
actors will
return for the new Star
Wars movies. The next question is, can they even
do the job?

Above
Image:  Harrison
Ford, Carrie
Fisher, Mark
Hamill reunited

There has been some bozo conversation around whether the main actors
can reprise their roles, with people using terms like “Geriatric
Wars” and comparing it to watching “Superman with a walker.” “Jedi
mind tricks to find their keys? No thanks.” says one forum commentor.

I already wrote how I
think the original
actors should return for Star
Wars, but let’s answer the question: Can they
bring back the magic of Star
Wars again? Can Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and
Princess Leia return 35 years later?

Mark Hamill (Luke
Skywalker)

Age: Born
September 25, 1951

Then: 26

Now: 62

Physical Activity
Required: Running, shooting, acrobatics, lightsaber

When Mark Hamill played Luke Skywalker in 1977 he was a spry, young
26-year-old. He had very little acting experience, but won a Saturn
award for his performance in Star
Wars. Luke
Skywalker was a young man who
grew to be a confident, but compassionate leader and Jedi master.
Hamill
was a pretty  athletic guy, doing most of his own
stunts in Empire
Strikes Back and Return
of the Jedi. Now he’s a 62-year-old dude
with three Saturn awards (all for Star
Wars). He’s done some Broadway shows and got a Drama Desk
Award nomination for
Elephant Man. Most of work since Star Wars have been
schlocky low-budget science fiction movies that went straight to
video.  He has done some awesome voice work for video
games and, of course, Batman:
The Animated Series. At 60 years old, he hasn’t done an
action movie or had a significant acting role in decades.

Verdict:
There’s no way he can play Luke Skywalker the way he was, since he
can’t do his own stunts, but he still has the confidence and sense of
humor that Luke needs. Expect him to play a less active Jedi like
Obi-Wan Kenobi. But, like aged Yoda and Count Dooku, he might fight
using a combination of CGI and practical effects.

By the way, if you want to know what Luke would look like
as a Jedi, check out these fan-made posters.

Harrison Ford (Han Solo)

Age: Born
July 13, 1942

Then: 35

Now: 70

Physical Activity Required:
Running
and shooting

When Harrison Ford played Han Solo, in Star Wars, he was
around 35 years old. He’d had several small, mostly uncredited roles in
movies and television. His most significant part was in American Grafitti.
On the orginal Star Wars
he played the bold, brash fighting man who ran, shot and fought his way
out of trouble. Since Star
Wars, Ford has played in dozens of films and won numerous
awards.  He got a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for
Witness, the film that also nabbed him a “Best Actor” BAFTA and Golden
Globe nominations. He won the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2002 Golden
Globes and has  three “Best Actor” Golden Globe noms for The Mosquito Coast, The Fugitive
and Sabrina.
In 2000, Harrison Ford got the AFI Life Achievement Award.

On Indiana Jones and
the Temple of Doom, in 1983, he suffered a herniated disk,
but is still active. In fact, at 65, he did his own stunts for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of
the Crystal Skull crediting advances
on safety techniques.

Verdict:
Even though he’s older than the other actors he’s the most likely to be
able to do his own stunts and have the acting skills to bring Han Solo
back. Unfortunately, he hates Star Wars,
so I’m not sure he’ll be as committed to the role as he was when he was
younger.

Carrie Fisher (Princess
Leia)

Age: Born
October 21, 1956

Then: 21

Now: 56

Physical Activity
Required: Running, fighting, shooting

Carrie Fisher was the youngest member of the cast of Star Wars at age
21. Before Star Wars,
her only major acting role was in the comedy Shampoo (1975).
Today Carrie Fisher is 56 and has appeared in numerous films, but her
comedy roles like Blues
Brothers and When
Harry Met Sally are her best known films. She’s had a very
public battle with various addictions, bipolar disorder and weight
gain. Her tell-all books and YouTube
fights with William Shatner have proved she still has the
sense of humor and fighting spirit that we love from Princess Leia.

Verdict:
There’s no way she can do stunt work, but she never did her own stunt
work before anyway. Shooting a gun isn’t hard and Helen Mirren in RED
(2010) proved you can still pop a cap at 60. Fisher’s acting skills are
still on point, and she can play an older, wiser Princess Leia.

So, of the three main actors, one can definitely reprise his role and
two are questionable. Case closed. They can do the job.

I
agree with one Guardian
reader when he says, “There’s some kind of ageism in the ‘I don’t want
to see my heroes look older’ thing. We all get older. Even Jedi.”

How do you feel? Can the original cast of Star
Wars come back and play the?

[Image Source: US
Magazine]

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