Chewbacca Coming To World Not So Far Away
Disney World's 'Star Wars' Weekend Annual Tradition For Mayhew
POSTED: 6:20 pm EDT June 4, 2003
He's been to the man-made Death Star, the ice planet Hoth and the forest planet of Endor; but this weekend, you'll be able find Chewbacca in a galaxy not so far, far away -- at Disney World.
Chewbacca is actually actor Peter Mayhew, who donned the costume of the lovable Wookie in the original "Star Wars" trilogy. And recently, creator George Lucas announced that Mayhew would reprise the role of Chewbacca in the final installment of the prequel trilogy, the yet-untitled "Star Wars: Episode III."In the meantime, though, Mayhew's been touring the world, giving out hearty Wookie handshakes to the fans that have admired him since the original "Star Wars" film came out in 1977.
And while he's met countless fans over the years, Mayhew told me in a recent @ The Movies interview that he really didn't start making the heavy rounds of appearances until about five years ago. Mayhew says he never tires of making appearances because new generations of fans are discovering the "Star Wars" legacy by the day -- and those new fans help the actor keep a fresh perspective."When you think about it, you've got three generations that can talk about one particular movie or the series of movies, and it binds everybody together," Mayhew said. "It grows on the younger people because the mom and dad talk about it. It develops a common bond in families."And for that reason, that's why Mayhew loves his visits to the family environment of Disney World in Orlando, Fla., which stages a series of "Star Wars" weekends every year. Mayhew will appear there June 6-8 with Boba Fett star Jeremy Bulloch, and Temuera Morrison (Jango Fett) and Michonne Bourriague (Aurra Sing) will conclude the series June 13-15."At Disney, everybody's there to enjoy themselves, and even if they've only seen one or two of the movies, everybody still knows the characters," Mayhew said. "I've done a 'Star Wars' weekend every year they've had them, and have always thoroughly enjoyed them. It's great fun to go down there and meet people from all over the states."And, he said, there are various visitors from the "Star Wars" galaxy, too, thanks to countless numbers of fan clubs that visit."There are going to be a lot of Storm Troopers there on my weekend," Mayhew enthused. He should be safe, though -- he won't be in costume.Mayhew said the fans at his appearances range from the shy-types to the fans that go on for five minutes straight about their "Star Wars" memories. All usually leave the appearances with the same feeling."They go away happy," Mayhew said. "As the actors behind the masks, we need to get out and show people that we're normal human beings."
In total, Mayhew, who lives in Texas, says he does up to 30 appearances per year. Combined with travel time to different destinations, that's a heavy load, even for a 7-foot 3-inch Wookie."Looking at the calendar, it's probably two shows a month minimum, from February through October," Mayhew explained. "So you do the shows, come home and sort your suitcases out, and then you go off again. It gives me a lot of frequent flier miles, which is nice. But it is nice to have a couple weekends off a month, too, to recoup and come back to normality."Sometime soon -- and he doesn't exactly know when -- Mayhew will pack his backs to go to Australia to shoot "Episode III." And in traditional Lucas style, the writer-director is keeping his actors in the dark to keep the lid on any secrets leaking on the plot of the film."I know nothing," Mayhew said. "I haven't seen the script I don't even know what we're going to be doing. I know that the character will be there. What he will be doing, I don't know."But whether Mayhew's going to be onscreen a minute or an hour, he's going to savor playing the character again."I had feeling from a long time that Chewie would be back," Mayhew said. "Where or when I didn't know, but I am still really excited. I want to do the role as well and efficiently as I can. It's a wonderful opportunity."If anything, Mayhew added, we should at least expect to hear a familiar noise coming from our furry friend."The growl will be there -- I'm almost certain," Mayhew quipped.More Info:
Chewbacca is actually actor Peter Mayhew, who donned the costume of the lovable Wookie in the original "Star Wars" trilogy. And recently, creator George Lucas announced that Mayhew would reprise the role of Chewbacca in the final installment of the prequel trilogy, the yet-untitled "Star Wars: Episode III."In the meantime, though, Mayhew's been touring the world, giving out hearty Wookie handshakes to the fans that have admired him since the original "Star Wars" film came out in 1977.And while he's met countless fans over the years, Mayhew told me in a recent @ The Movies interview that he really didn't start making the heavy rounds of appearances until about five years ago. Mayhew says he never tires of making appearances because new generations of fans are discovering the "Star Wars" legacy by the day -- and those new fans help the actor keep a fresh perspective."When you think about it, you've got three generations that can talk about one particular movie or the series of movies, and it binds everybody together," Mayhew said. "It grows on the younger people because the mom and dad talk about it. It develops a common bond in families."And for that reason, that's why Mayhew loves his visits to the family environment of Disney World in Orlando, Fla., which stages a series of "Star Wars" weekends every year. Mayhew will appear there June 6-8 with Boba Fett star Jeremy Bulloch, and Temuera Morrison (Jango Fett) and Michonne Bourriague (Aurra Sing) will conclude the series June 13-15."At Disney, everybody's there to enjoy themselves, and even if they've only seen one or two of the movies, everybody still knows the characters," Mayhew said. "I've done a 'Star Wars' weekend every year they've had them, and have always thoroughly enjoyed them. It's great fun to go down there and meet people from all over the states."And, he said, there are various visitors from the "Star Wars" galaxy, too, thanks to countless numbers of fan clubs that visit."There are going to be a lot of Storm Troopers there on my weekend," Mayhew enthused. He should be safe, though -- he won't be in costume.Mayhew said the fans at his appearances range from the shy-types to the fans that go on for five minutes straight about their "Star Wars" memories. All usually leave the appearances with the same feeling."They go away happy," Mayhew said. "As the actors behind the masks, we need to get out and show people that we're normal human beings."In total, Mayhew, who lives in Texas, says he does up to 30 appearances per year. Combined with travel time to different destinations, that's a heavy load, even for a 7-foot 3-inch Wookie."Looking at the calendar, it's probably two shows a month minimum, from February through October," Mayhew explained. "So you do the shows, come home and sort your suitcases out, and then you go off again. It gives me a lot of frequent flier miles, which is nice. But it is nice to have a couple weekends off a month, too, to recoup and come back to normality."Sometime soon -- and he doesn't exactly know when -- Mayhew will pack his backs to go to Australia to shoot "Episode III." And in traditional Lucas style, the writer-director is keeping his actors in the dark to keep the lid on any secrets leaking on the plot of the film."I know nothing," Mayhew said. "I haven't seen the script I don't even know what we're going to be doing. I know that the character will be there. What he will be doing, I don't know."But whether Mayhew's going to be onscreen a minute or an hour, he's going to savor playing the character again."I had feeling from a long time that Chewie would be back," Mayhew said. "Where or when I didn't know, but I am still really excited. I want to do the role as well and efficiently as I can. It's a wonderful opportunity."If anything, Mayhew added, we should at least expect to hear a familiar noise coming from our furry friend."The growl will be there -- I'm almost certain," Mayhew quipped.More Info: Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
