While I was preparing my John Williams piece for Variety, I had the good fortune to connect with actor Mark Hamill, who of course plays Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films. He was so enthusiastic in his praise for the maestro, and waxed eloquent in his appreciation for film music generally, that I didn’t want to use simply one or two quotes in the Williams piece. Variety editors agreed, so here is the sidebar story in which Hamill talks about his history with classic film music, and Williams in particular. The New York Post picked it up the next day.
Tag Archives: Mark Hamill
John Williams on “The Post,” “Last Jedi”
It’s always a treat to interview the legendary John Williams. A few weeks ago he talked with me about scoring The Post for longtime colleague Steven Spielberg; about his eighth Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi; and about his plans for 2018, which include a theme for Solo and a new concert work celebrating the centennial of Leonard Bernstein. I also interviewed Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, actor (and fan) Mark Hamill, and fellow composers David Newman and William Ross, about the iconic composer’s place in movie and music history. The story is in this week’s issue of Variety, including a collection of Oscar trivia related to the composer. In a separate story, I explore the maestro’s first animated short subject (which itself is also Oscar-eligible this year), Dear Basketball, based on the Kobe Bryant poem.