Friday 15 April 2011

BEHIND THE SCENES: A PERFECT MATCH


On location in Tunisia circa March/April 1976, George Lucas confers with Sir Alec Guinness as he arrives at one of the areas being used to represent the desert planet of Tatooine. Guinness considered Tunisia an inspired choice as a locale for the film, which he thought gave the project some believability, and was equally impressed with the young director, once telling an interviewer his view that Lucas was so immersed in the medium he probably went to sleep covered in film! 

The early script that landed on his dressing room in Hollywood during late 1975, being of the science fiction/fantasy genre he was normally disinterested in, may at first have left him feeling both a little underwhelmed and bewildered, but Guinness found that it was nonetheless a page turner, and, told by the film's US casting advisor Fred Roos of how important he/the character would be to the overall production, was soon keen to work on what was then called The Star Wars alongside Lucas, at least once some of the dialogue for his character had been improved prior to and during principal photography in both Tunisia and London.

No comments: