It sounds to me that Hamill was being truthful when he said that he initially had doubts with Rian’s version of Luke, and he’s being truthful here when he says that the movie is nevertheless great.
He doesn’t strike me as the sort of person to lie; he probably just regrets giving cover to angry fanboys.
Yeah, exactly. Hamill clearly doesn’t care about toeing the company line or whatever (neither did Carrie or Harrison), so I don’t know why he’d make this statement if not for clarification.
The other thing is people are acting like he only said this after he saw the film. I’ve read/heard interviews with him saying similar stuff months ago, about having reservations initially then coming around to and appreciating Rian’s vision.
Hamill on twitter
I regret voicing my doubts & insecurities in public.Creative differences are a common element of any project but usually remain private. All I wanted was to make good movie. I got more than that- @rianjohnson made an all-time GREAT one! #HumbledHamill
Though of course he was forced by Disney to say this!
Hamill never really took back what he said about not liking what was written for his character. He said he regretted saying those things. He has always said that the movie is fantastic, he never said otherwise. What people are highlighting in videos, etc. is how he didn’t like the character of Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi, and I don’t think that’s something hard to believe. In fact that’s in several ways what I think. And he didn’t take that back here, he simply stated that he regrets voicing it in public.
That’s not really what he’s saying though. He’s not saying he dislikes Luke’s character in TLJ, just that he had a different idea of what the character’s story should be. He’s only saying he regrets saying it because people have misunderstood his message.