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OK, at uhh . . . Itzacon . . . this last week, I got put up to
doing an interview with Peter Mayhew, the guy who played
Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies. Anyway, because Im too
lazy to transcribe it myself, Im just going to copy the questions I
jotted down to ask him, as opposed to the actual questions I
asked him, which may differ slightly as to their exact meaning,
although the essence of each question remains essentially the
same. (<--Thats a killer sentence!). Actually, Im changing
what I said to make myself seem at least halfway intelligent, and
also cool and collected, instead of describing how I actually
took the interview bowed down in worship on the floor. (Im
not worthy! Im not worthy!) Oh, doh! I just let it slip.
Okay, here we go now:
Zack:
How much makeup for the Chewbacca costume did you
have to go through? What was the suit like?
Peter Mayhew:
Well, there was very little makeup because it is
a facemask. Just a little bit around the eyes, a little bit of eyeliner
around the eyes, and then the mask used to cover everything
else, so five minutes in the makeup chair in the morning, which
suited me definitely right.
Zack:
Was your suit really hot?
Peter Mayhew:
Depends on what you go by hot, you got used to it. Id
seen it from the making of it, so I knew what I was dealing with.
And when you think about it, it was a knitted suit, so it had holes
in it, so that if there was any breeze around it at all, it would
blow through it and keep your body cool. It was wonderful up
in Norway for the Hoth scenes because it repelled the snow and
yet kept my body warm, so I was the warmest one up there. It
was fabulous.
Zack:
Is it hard to act using only your body language and no voice?
Peter Mayhew:
I never had any problems with it. Its just something I
suppose that you do. Obviously during rehearsals you work out
the stop pieces and stuff like that. There was something about
that costume that when it went on, the character came alive and
it just seemed a natural thing to do, to follow the others, and do
whatever came and looked the way it should be. So, I didnt
have any problems, no.
Zack:
What was your favorite Star Wars experience?
Peter Mayhew:
Umm . . . favorite experience . . . I suppose the - what, on
the movies do you mean?
Zack:
Peter Mayhew:
Umm . . . I suppose it was the chess game.
Zack:
Peter Mayhew:
The chess game. Yeah, because not having played chess
for a number of years, it seemed a little bit different to be playing
chess on a chessboard: there were no characters. Well, the
characters were put in after. So you have to react not only to
the characters, but to 3PO, R2, and everything else that was
going on. So it was a challenge, but it was fun at the same time.
Zack:
What was working with George Lucas like?
Peter Mayhew:
Great! George knew what he wanted and told us basically
what he wanted and . . . I dont know, everybody seemed to be
pretty enthusiastic. Especially once Star Wars had come out,
and working on the second one, George was not involved as
much as he was in the first one. In the first one, hed be sitting
right alongside the camera. On the second one he elected to
open interpretation to the director, but he was still around. And
he would convey to you what he wanted, or on the first one he
would tell you where things were and leave it to you as an actor
to respond and do whatever was necessary.
Zack:
I remember flippin through TV one day and I saw an
episode of the Muppet Show that had Luke Skywalker, Mark
Hamill, C3-PO, and you on there. Was that you?
Peter Mayhew:
Yeah, yeah, that was me. Almost everything that you see
on TV or through the archives is me. And the Muppets was
done between - after Empire was done, and also the Holiday
Special: the one where Chewie goes home to his home planet.
Zack:
I actually havent seen that.
Peter Mayhew:
You havent seen it? I should get - you know there are
bootlegs available so . . . Coming up to more recent times, the
MTV Awards, about three years ago: that was me as well. So
that got me my medal, which I didnt get in the first movie.
Zack:
Whats your opinion of the new Star Wars movies?
Peter Mayhew:
Like everything else, some of its good. There are some
true Star Wars moments in the Phantom Menace. Its like the
first chapter of a book: you have to introduce characters, and
then you have to wipe some of those characters out. But I
enjoyed it. Im just waiting for the next one.
Zack:
Me too. Do you have a part in maybe the third Star Wars movie?
Peter Mayhew:
There is a possibility. Nobody has contacted -obviously
they are just putting number two to bat. I know theyve been
doing a lot of CGI stuff. And having not been involved with it,
you just hear things. But there is always a possibility for number
three, and we wont know that till probably this time next year.
Zack:
You are making a new movie - Bigfoot?
Peter Mayhew:
Zack:
Peter Mayhew:
Its the Bigfoot. Ahh . . . its a local Dallas based
company. Its about Bigfoot and the stories around a village.
Basically what happens, it involves the X-Men, all the sci-fi stuff.
We were supposed to shoot it in October but its gonna be
hopefully done in January, and it will be out for Halloween next
year.
Zack:
How does being so tall affect the rest of your life? Do you
hit your head a lot or anything?
Peter Mayhew:
Well I have a built in radar station. Ive had it for a
number of years. When you think that I was about 67" or 68"
at about 15, as I said, Ive got a built in radar station. When I
walk into a room I make notes, and I know what Ive got to
avoid: lampshades and stuff like that. Its only when someone
says, "Oh, watch your head," that I ever bang it, so no real
problems there at all, and I enjoy it, you know.
Zack:
What do you do besides acting?
Peter Mayhew:
Zack:
Peter Mayhew:
Yep. We go all over the world. This last year weve been
to Japan, all over Europe, all over the States, and next year
were going to Australia and New Zealand for a signing and to
spread the word. You know, its great. I enjoy it. As I say,
Ive got two other projects, the big project which we just
mentioned, and the other is this guy which is Canadian, a
cartoon series, where a lot of the characters have been Star
Wars actors as the voices. That should be out mid summer.
Zack:
Peter Mayhew:
Yeah. So life at the moment is hectic, but its also very
rewarding to have two big projects as well as doing conventions.
So thats what I do.
Well thats it. I would like to thank Mr. Mayhew for putting up
with me for this interview (Im not worthy!). I would also like to
say that Star Wars belongs to George Lucas, as well as all the
other things Ive mentioned belonging to their own respective
owners, and so on and so forth.
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