Interview: Lucas Spins Latest Star Wars Yarn
May 9 -- Long, long ago in a Hollywood far, far away, a young George Lucas screen-tested an even younger Harrison Ford for a film to be called Star Wars.
In the 26 years since, Star Wars has changed the way movies are watched, shown, seen and made. The fifth film in the most successful film series ever — by far — opens next week. Good Morning America's Joel Siegel sat down with Lucas to talk about Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.
The following is an unedited, uncorrected transcript of Joel Siegel's interview with George Lucas which aired on Good Morning America Thursday, Feb. 7.
JOEL SIEGEL: You don't seem to be terribly nervous or anxious about this movie opening.
GEORGE LUCAS: Well, I'm not, really. Once I finish the movie, I've done the best job I can. I'm happy with it. No matter what happens, I'm going to be okay.
VOICE OVER TAPE: In the latest film, the actors are real, but just about everything else is computer-generated. What you see on the screen doesn't really exist anywhere, except in Lucas' imagination.
SIEGEL: My jaw drops. I mean, it's just that incredible. And I know that somebody thinks these things up. That must be the greatest job in the world.
LUCAS:Well, the most frustrating job in the world is to be able to think of them up and say you can't do them, which is what I was doing before, and that was really upsetting. And Phantom Menace was … we were learning the medium. But we figured things out, and now I can do it. You know, this is the movie that says, okay, I learned how to drive, now watch.
SIEGEL: I interviewed Sam Jackson (who plays Jedi character Mace Windu) and he said he would have no idea, he says, "What am I fighting?" And you would say, "Well, it's big."
SAMUEL JACKSON: It's me in a big green room by myself and George goes, "okay, fight," and you fight and fight and fight until he says "cut," and occasionally he'll say, "okay, there's a big thing coming at you." You go, "well, how big?" "Oh, as big as an SUV."
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