The audience wasn’t always supposed to meet Luke Skywalker when he went to buy C-3PO and R2-D2 from the Jawas, according to Mark Hamill. In a deleted scene from the original Star Wars (one that many fans have seen by now), Luke is shown living his life with his friends on Tatooine, along with his political ambivalence—even seeing the Empire as an acceptable means to escape his home.
Showing that Luke wasn’t exactly the “cool kid,” the scene serves to show how even those who were working for the Empire wanted out and wanted to be with the Rebels. Talking with the Russo brothers for their new series, Russo Brothers’ Film School, Hamill brought up the cut scene and how he wished it was still in the movie:
“It’s in the novelization, and I totally get why they cut it, because they wanted Luke to come into the story organically, when the robots get sold at the Jawa auction, and this is a distraction. You go, ‘Who’s that guy? The only reason I’m telling you this, he goes off to the teen club at Tosche Station, there a couple of things that are good for the character. Number one, he is ridiculed roundly by his peers. So he’s not particularly cool or popular. Koo Stark is the only other female in the movie… she calls me ‘Wormie’… So I am not popular. Then I bump into Biggs Darklighter, played by Garrick Hagon, and I go ‘Wow!’ You can see we’re old friends… He’s dressed in an Imperial uniform and I’m going, ‘Wow! That’s so great! I can’t wait until I can get off the dump of a planet and join with you.'”
Look: I don’t need another reason to think Luke Skywalker is a drama queen. He’s my drama queen, but he is one. When we first meet him, he’s basically mad that he can’t go do what he wants and is acting like a petulant teenager. It made me fall in love with him as a character, and I don’t need to think about Luke Skywalker considering joining the Empire just so he can get away from Tatooine.
A lot of my love for Luke Skywalker is centered around the fact that Luke was thrown into this war despite everyone trying to keep him out, and he still managed to be the hero the rebels needed. We get to see him toying with the idea of the Empire later on, but instantly putting that idea in the first moment we see Luke would have made me view him differently, and I think it ended up working out for the best that Luke Skywalker is just introduced to us as this lonely kid who wants to go to Tosche Station to pick up some power converters.
I’m sorry, Mr. Hamill, but I’m kind of glad that they cut this scene. Luke Skywalker being introduced as he’s buying C-3PO and R2-D2 will forever be the moment I fell in love with this dramatic space boy, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
(image: Lucasfilm)
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