FILM INTERVIEW: MARK HAMILL

Beloved Hero Discusses 'The Black Pearl' Coming To The Big Screen Soon

By: Emmanuel Itier

June 15, 2010

Mark Hamill, as a young man, embodied the perfect hero we all wanted to be in Star Wars. While combating the Dark Side of existence, he was able to stay forever young in a mystical Jedi quest and save his princess-sister Leia. Some 35 years later, and not even 60 years old, Mark Hamill is full of inner and outer Force. He shines such a disarming confidence that we wish we had as a leading commander to save spaceship Earth from, it seems like, a pretty bleak destiny. But enough with the depressing thoughts, as Mark is, before all, a man of strength and laughs that will lift up your heart in a second, even in the darkest moment. In a way, he has become this unpretentious and organic hero who is the center character of a new directorial, announced The Black Pearl just a few weeks ago at the Cannes Film Festival. With his partners Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson and Justin Howard, they formed a new financing entity, Berkeley Square Films, aimed at producing films in the $7 million range. After The Black Pearl, several other movies will come to life, such as What’s Left of Us with Channing Tatum — the tale of a junkie with an inspirational and uplifting ending — as well as the suspense shocker Depravity or the family-oriented movie Bullet, about a little boy befriending a lost greyhound in the woods. Needless to say, such an eclectic line-up will surely find an audience and touch its heart.

Before heading for a little vacation to Paris with his daughter, I caught up Mark Hamill and his partners in Cannes during the International Film Festival. We were sipping some Perrier-Citron and planning for an overall new world where peace and love are the only true safeguards of our civilization… Oh, and also talked about movies…

Emmanuel Itier: Where is the idea of The Black Pearl coming from?

Mark Hamill: This character is some sort of super hero with no real power, and it came, in a way, from the real event that occurred in the New York subway a while ago. There was a lonely man, very timid and thin, who was always bullied by thugs until one day, he pulled a gun on one of them and shot him. For a short while, New York was happy that there had been such a reaction against the abuse of the common people, but then they realized that this sort of vigilante was not necessarily the answer. So we wondered how we could apply this theme with a very real background into a more dramtic and fantasy-like universe. And The Black Pearl was born.

EI: Why are you a good director for The Black Pearl?

MH: My vision is indeed very clear with this film. I want to do almost a documentary approach, in terms of filmmaking. I want people to believe in this story, in this character — to make it as visceral as possible.

EI: Are you trying to get your revenge on all these popcorn silly superhero movies like Spider Man and Iron Man?

MH: Don’t get me wrong — I love these movies, I really do, but our movie is supposed to be made in the real world and not a fantasy world, and this is what I’m trying to do — a real story in the real world and with real people who are on the verge of a nervous breakdown because society itself is on the edge of a breakdown…

EI: Do you envision any challenge ahead of you with making The Black Pearl?

MH: It’s like when people ask me, when I do theatre, “Do you get nervous when you do a Broadway play?” Sure, there is always anxiety, but it’s not crippling and I know exactly where I’m going. I’m very comfortable once I get on the ice and need to skate. It’s the same with me for directing. Sure, I have the fear of the unknown, but I also know that when the time comes to start shooting, I will be ready and totally comfortable in my own shoes as a director. I love the process so much, and I know it’s about team work and not only about one man’s vision.

EI: What do you think this film is about?

MH: It’s about the toughness of the duality of life. It’s about how tough it is to be Clark Kent when you are Superman, Peter Parker when you are Spider Man… It’s about how hard it is to find the hero within in your simple, common being. Life is full of dualities, and this is what The Black Pearl explores. It’s about how difficult it is to face reality when you dream of another one — a fantasy-like reality. It’s also a story of passion, of a man having a crush for a girl and doing crazy things for her. See what women make us do?!

EI: You’ve worked with some iconic directors, such as George Lucas. What was the best advice a director gave you to direct?

MH: The best advice that was given to me to direct is that you have to be the best possible communicator. You always need to have an answer ready to any question asked, and you have to convey to people a clear and simple vision of what you want to have done. You can’t arrive to a set and say: “So what do we do now?” You need to do your homework and be a leader. If not, everything will fall apart.  I really know what I want for The Black Pearl. I’m ready to go. Everything I have done was leading to this moment!