On May 21, 1980, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back made its theatrical debut. To celebrate the classic film’s landmark 40th anniversary, StarWars.com presents “Empire at 40,” a special series of interviews, editorial features, and listicles.
Star Wars luminaries George Lucas, Mark Hamill, Joe Johnston, Ben Burtt, and more chatted with StarWars.com as part of our yearlong celebration of the 40th anniversary of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Hours of exclusive interviews revealed fun behind-the-scenes factoids you’ve probably never heard before, straight from the source.
Here are 15 things we learned from talking to these titans of filmmaking that we don’t want you to miss.
1. George Lucas often left the details of the action scenes out of the script and up to the crew.
He trusted their skills and creativity implicitly.