# Recast Luke and Leia **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947 "2013-08-11T17:55:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/41 "2013-08-12T11:54:34Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Holy fuck, if I ever get my hands on a time machine, I’m going back and making him take the role. > > “Han Solo. I’m _Captain_ of… the Millennium FALLcon. Chewie here… tells me you’re lookin’… for _passage_… to the Alderaan system?” [Word for word.](http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/27743/) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/42 "2013-08-12T12:12:18Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Holy fuck, if I ever get my hands on a time machine, I’m going back and making him take the role. > > “Han Solo. I’m _Captain_ of… the Millennium FALLcon. Chewie here… tells me you’re lookin’… for _passage_… to the Alderaan system?” It might go… a little something… like [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqRDrEp0EY4). ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/43 "2013-08-12T12:25:40Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Except that the farmboy in that movie was played by Jeff East. [Here](http://www.jonhoyle.com/NiagaraArticle/east.JPG) is how _that_ farmboy looks today. But Reeve’s Clark Kent act was still naive farmboy, though. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/44 "2013-08-12T14:21:15Z")
Michelle Pfeiffer ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/45 "2013-08-12T14:27:58Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > But Reeve’s Clark Kent act was still naive farmboy, though. Still too old(he was around 24 when _Star Wars_ was made), and a bit too tall(6’ 4’'). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/46 "2013-08-12T14:32:49Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Still too old And yet, somehow, a year younger than Mark Hamill. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/47 "2013-08-12T14:45:49Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > And yet, somehow, a year younger than Mark Hamill. Still a bit too mature to be playing a farm_boy_, I think. [Christopher Reeve when he was on _Love Of Life_.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5EHrue6mQc) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/48 "2013-08-12T15:18:21Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Still a bit too mature to be playing a farm_boy_, I think. > [Christopher Reeve when he was on _Love Of Life_.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5EHrue6mQc) Jeez, looking at that clip I’m picturing a whole parallel timeline where the guy never got cast as Superman and instead spent his whole career playing trust-fund types who idled their way from prep school to the country club; if google’s right, he apparently packed on thirty-plus pounds of muscle for his breakthrough role. Danged impressive. Coming back around, could Timothy Hutton have managed the role of Luke? ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/49 "2013-08-12T15:44:44Z")
I can see Hutton as Luke. Or maybe even Tim Robbins (his height may be a factor). Maybe Charlie Sheen as Luke and Michael Douglas as Han Solo? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/50 "2013-08-12T16:23:14Z")
Timothy Hutton was born in 1960 and Charlie Sheen in 1965, so I think both are too young. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/51 "2013-08-12T16:28:02Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Timothy Hutton was born in 1960 Making him seventeen in '77, which I’d figure is passable. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/52 "2013-08-12T16:28:41Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Timothy Hutton was born in 1960 and Charlie Sheen in 1965, so I think both are too young. That would make Hutton just about perfect for the role of Luke, I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/53 "2013-08-12T16:29:50Z")
Hutton might’ve been able to pull it off being 16; but yeah, probably too young for what Lucas was going for: a kid ready to go to college. Agreed on Sheen - had a brain-fart there. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/54 "2013-08-12T17:11:02Z")
Woody Allen and Barbra Streisand. It’s perfect! ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/55 "2013-08-12T17:19:54Z")
Alec Baldwin, Gary Oldman, Kevin Bacon, Madeleine Stowe, and Annette Bening were all born in 1958. Daniel Day-Lewis and Theresa Russell were born in 1957. Tim Daly, Dana Delaney, Sela Ward, and Kim Cattrall were born in 1956. Kevin Costner, Bruce Willis, Jeff Daniels, and Bill Paxton were born in 1955. I don’t know who was already working at the time. I’m just throwing out names. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/56 "2013-08-12T17:20:05Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Woody Allen and Barbra Streisand. It’s perfect! Jackie Mason as Obi Wan, and Gene Wilder as Han Solo. ---
**Author:** ![sideshowkar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5e9695/32.png) [@sideshowkar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sideshowkar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/57 "2013-08-12T17:20:49Z")
Mark Harmon seems like he would be a fair swap in terms of the age, blondness factor, range of talent, first name, and initials. He managed to make it to today prettier and in better shape than Mark Hamill. IMDB puts his first credit in 1973. Jamie Lee Curtis has the toughness needed for Leia, was working during that time, has a similar Hollywood pedigree, and is still pretty fit and good looking today. Karen Allen could be another option, but I don’t think she’s aged quite as well. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/58 "2013-08-12T17:34:04Z")
> [@Miss\_Woodhouse](#): > > How old was Susan Sarandon in '77? She seems like someone who could have done a great Leia. Sarandon was 31 in [1977](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vCmXYU6i0WE/T2Oozi0H7iI/AAAAAAAACcE/rdyYAkfEylg/s400/Midnight+Susan+Sarandon.JPG) (Fisher was 21). She’s a gorgeous woman but it would have thrown off the movie to have a 31 year old Leia playing opposite a character as young as Luke was supposed to be. And Sarandon was a relatively well known actress by 1977 and was established as an adult so audiences wouldn’t have accepted her trying to play a teenage character. (A year after _Star Wars_, she played the mother roles in _Pretty Baby_ and _King of the Gypsies_.) ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/59 "2013-08-16T01:13:23Z")
Scanning through the Wikipedia ‘1977 in film’ and various 1977s in television, just to remind myself who was around. Surely one of the countless children in The Waltons was ready for stardom? So tempted to suggest Jim Rockford as Han Solo, but will resist. Any of Richie Cunningham, Ralph Malph or Potsi would, I think have added a jaunty flair that’s missing from the ponderous original. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947/60 "2013-08-16T02:03:18Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Richie Cunningham Only with the Fonz as Obi-Wan. _“Who is more da fool – da fool, or da fool who follows him? Ayyy.”_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recast-luke-and-leia/665947.md?page=4)