Entertainment
Star Wars Day: Luke Skywalker body double Max Lloyd-Jones ‘flattered’ fans think he could play younger version of Jedi in futureSabrina Barr
We’re hoping we’ll see lots more of Luke in future (Picture: Instagram/@maxlloydjones/Rex)
Actor Max Lloyd-Jones, who was the body double for Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian, has shared with Metro.co.uk how ‘flattered’ he is that fans think he could play the young Jedi outright in future.
Today, on May 4, people across the world are celebrating Star Wars Day, an annual event created as a play on words on the phrase ‘May The Force Be With You’, as fans and stars of the franchise declare ‘May The Fourth Be With You’ instead.
This month will see the release of the highly-anticipated series Obi-Wan Kenobi, with a new trailer teasing the dangers the titular character (Ewan McGregor) faces as Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) transforms into the fearsome Darth Vader.
In 2020, Max made his debut in the Star Wars franchise when he appeared as the body double for Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in the season two finale of The Mandalorian, a magical moment that fans will never forget.
While he didn’t perform as Luke again in The Book of Boba Fett – having been replaced by another actor – he did make an appearance as a new character, an X-wing pilot for the New Republic called Lieutenant Reed.
However, there are some fans who said that when they first saw the actor playing Jedi Master Luke – when his performance was merged with Mark’s – they could envisage him fully portraying a young version of the character if the opportunity arose in future.
Speaking to Metro.co.uk, Max said that it was ‘very strange’ when he was cast as the body double for Luke, as he had ‘never been told that he looked like him before, and never thought of it’.
Even though he wasn’t told to mimic Mark’s mannerisms, admitting that he was ‘winging it on the spot’ after watching some videos of the actor in character on YouTube, he found that people were ‘very flattering about that, saying it looked exactly like him’.
When asked how he feels about those who think he would be a shoo-in as Luke, Max said he felt ‘totally flattered’.
‘If fans could decide casting I’m sure it’d be a different world. I’m not praying for that part by any means,’ said the actor, who previously starred in War for the Planet of the Apes and is set to appear in Netflix superhero comedy series The Imperfects.
‘I think the good people of Lucasfilm have their ways and know what they think will work best.
‘It’s a difficult thing recasting a role that’s so iconically connected to somebody else, and I think that’s probably why they struggled with the decision as to whether they were going to use the motion capture face replacement technology or get a new actor.’
Max addressed the calls from some fans for Sebastian Stan to take over the role, having pointed out the similarities between the Marvel actor and Mark.
‘Obviously a lot of people have been clamouring for Sebastian Stan over the years to play him and lot of people were expecting that,’ he said, which is why he believes the creators of The Mandalorian chose to go with the option that would anger the least amount of people by combining Mark with another actor.
Some fans believe Sebastian is the spitting image of a younger Mark (Picture: Rex)
‘Who knows, maybe they will make a series about Luke or another movie when he’s younger, I’d totally be open to talking about that,’ he added.
‘But in the meanwhile, I think they’re definitely going down this vein of using technology right now to bring him back to that age without recasting, and that’s fine, people seem to be ok with it.’
As for Max’s own return to Star Wars, he expressed his hope that he’ll be able to come back as Lieutenant Reed alongside Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as fellow pilot Captain Carson Teva.
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‘That’d be pretty fun. What I love is that they seem to be creating a sort of Marvel-esque universe with the new Star Wars TV series that they all intersect a bit, the ones that are in the same timeline at least. So I think, hopefully there’s some room,’ he said.
‘There’s going to be a need for X-wing patrols in the future series I hope, the galaxy’s always going to need some law enforcement I suppose, so hopefully there’s some space for me and Carson Teva out there. We’ll see.’
The Mandalorian is available to watch on Disney Plus.
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