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Post things most people don't know about the original movies!

Here I'll start us out:

-Sissy Spacek was the first choice for Princess Leia, 2nd choice was Jodie Foster.

-Christopher Walken was first choice for Han Solo

-Wedge Antilles(played by Denis Lawson) is the Uncle of Ewan McGegor

-When Star Wars first came out.. at the beginning of the movie , it was not called Star Wars: A new Hope...that was added later to match up with The Empire Strikes Back

Hard to find things people don't know about Star Wars here...

well, lets try?

Did you know all of the above??

Yup. If a poster has a sabre as a sig he/she most likely knows. This forum started off as a Star Wars fan place, you see.

Well , see if you can name anything not widely known!

Ush, do you know who the first choice for Han was?

What is the point in asking that when you just said it? I remember Gundy talking about Walken as Solo quite a lot. Still, Solo was called Jabba at one point in the story evolution...

No someone else actually had the part first, who was it?

Oh, let me think. Was it Tom Selleck?

Or was that Indy Jones... other than Chrissy boy I remmeber Nick Nolte was up for the part...

Well, see I did stump you! It was Burt Renyolds! Yes Tom Selleck was up for Indy, but the Magnum PI people wouldnt let him do it!

Ah yes, I remember...

Mind you, they always seem reluctant to confirm that officially so I have never been sure if it is true.

Kurt Russel was up for Solo as well. In fact, I think the trick is to find people who were NOT up for it before he turned to the carpenter.

for the last time!
Harrison got the job, the others were CONSIDERED for the job, they didn't got far in the process

originally george didnt want to use anyone from his other movies in star wars. he just used harrison for finding the other parts (leia, luke) then he found that he was right ofr the part and the rest (as they say) is history.

Yes, I think to say that others were the 'original' choice for the role is overstating things.

Burt Reynolds had the job and quit , first.

I think that is the point that is being debated, Omega. I think others are of the opinion that is not 100% true.

A lair am I, I have seen it in other publications(starlog) and I have also seen it on many websites!


Who are "we" using as the stars wars trivia expert on this board? I feel that my information is correct! I also saw an interview with Harrison Ford himself and he stated that he got the job only after another actor turned the role down! So that is good enough for me that he did NOT have the job the whole time.

then what about him going in as a carpenter? *sigh*
if you think you know enough about star wars, please enjoy you with this:
http://forums.killermovies.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=299431#post299431

Well, he was always under consideration for it, as Leia says he was always reading against the other actors. And all the SW fans here are trivia experts.

Feel free to believe it but I have still only ever seen this as a rumour. You won't find it on the details about casting Solo in the official site, for example.

I think it is most likely that Burt was being considered for the part but never showed any interest due to the obscure nature of the film, which is different from being actively chosen for it then turning it down and forcing them to look elsewhere.

There is a lot of apocryphal facts about SW out there... you will not believe the debate there was about which was the first ANH release to have the subtitle added!

Anyway, let's not get bogged down in this. Anyone else got any obscure SW facts they want to share?

I can post a link to a amazon.com location with the fact that Burt was offered the role but said NO , it also has alot of other famous roles that actors turned down. (is posting a link aloud?)

I don't see why not, though that still only makes it a rumour. You get a lot of nonsense posted around on-line- many hugh profile sites had Gabriel Byrne down for Episode II and as for the varying stories about why Return of the Jedi was not the original title of the third film... gee! If you can find an official Lucasfilm source that would be better.

Yes, I know he was a carpenter *sigh* He was also in "American Graffiti "that was his connection to Lucas. Harrison was definately not the first pick of Lucas for Solo(and that was my point)

My interest is in that many roles we as movie goers have come to love where meant for other actors. I like to try and think what the movies would have been like with the other actors.

I really dont think that would be good PR for Lucas or any director to openly say that I wanted "so and so " for the role but had to settle for who I got. I already stated that I saw an interview with Harrison in which he stated he got the role after others said no. That and the many links I have seen(while not on Lucasfilm.com) is good enough for me.

Also, Ush -didnt you say "oh, yeah , I remember that now" in response to me first mentioning Burt? I believe you did.

Yes, I had heard the rumour before, as I said. I also said I didn't want thois thread to get bogged down in this so let's move on, please.

he pretended to be one, he wasn't one

Born in Chicago to a typically American family (an Irish-Catholic father and a Russian Jewish mother) in July 1942, young Harry never quite knew what he wanted to be when he grew up. He began acting at Wisconsin’s Ripon College, but flunked out three days before graduation. After a brief stint in summer stock, he headed for Hollywood and life as a studio contract player in films like Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966) and small parts on TV in Gunsmoke and The Virginian. Much has been written of Ford’s sporadic early career and his decision to give it up for the carpentry trade. When the film world did call with roles in American Graffiti (1973) and The Conversation (1974) he refused to quit his day job. He only hung up his professional hammer after finally hitting the big time as Han Solo in Star Wars (1977)

Carpenter huh?

And your point is?

this

If you are trying to say that Harrison Ford is not a carpenter then you are wrong! He may do movies for a living but once someone knows how to do carpentry, then they are still a carpenter! On a recent interview he even mentioned that he still makes things from time to time. Sounds to me like you dont know your Harrison Ford.

*sigh*
the article about him doing Bob the Builder doesn't count