Carrie Fisher has been a staple at the Star Wars Celebration since festivities started on Thursday. The opening panel to the event saw practically every name connected to Star Wars –including creator George Lucas — take the time to pay tribute to the late actress, but Mark Hamill broke away on Friday for his own hour-long panel featuring all the scandal and fun you’d expect.
Hamill filled the hour with “off the cuff” tales about his relationship with Fisher according to Mashable, not shying away from the more salacious moments and personal ups and downs they experienced across their careers. He discussed their first meeting during a dinner before filming the original Star Wars, noting that Fisher was immediately telling “personal stories that I wouldn’t have shared if I knew you 10 years,” and also hit on his romantic feelings towards her, even admitting that part of him “did fall in love with her” in the end:
“We were like a couple of horny teenagers,” said Hamill, revealing that he had been captivated the instant he met the sparkling, intelligent, hilarious 19-year old Fisher, 5 years his junior.
“I wanted her to myself, I didn’t want to share her with Harrison,” the actor added. But he also knew “I couldn’t handle her as a girlfriend.”
The star also joked about the time Fisher had him dress in her Princess Leia gown around the Star Wars set and their more recent competition to reach one million Twitter followers, featuring some cutthroat competition from the actress.
But despite the fun stories and revealing nature of the panel, the star still nearly broke down while reading his statement about Fisher’s passing in December. He admitted to the crowd that he initially didn’t want to write the statement and didn’t want to talk about the death of his Star Wars cast mate, but the fan response helped him move on and deal with the grief.
While it was a panel that Hamill hoped “wouldn’t happen for another 30 years,” he made it as memorable and meaningful as can be. You watch the full event below.
