Here’s a letter from the actor taking over the role, Joonas Suotamo:
He already did a lot of the acting on TFA, right?
Peter seems to really be having trouble moving around, I’m sure that’s what this is about.
Yeah, from what I understand he did the majority of TFA, and Mayhew only did a handful of stuff (mostly things where Chewie’s sitting down), but also worked pretty closely with Suatamo to get the right movements. Seemed to work.
Yeah, didn’t Peter have a double knee replacement recently? Seems like he never fully recovered. I hope they have him do some sitting down stuff for IX at least. Recasting for a spinoff is one thing, but it would be sad if Peter sits out the last hurrah for the remaining original cast.
As Chewie’s performance was pretty much seamless in TFA, I think Peter has taught him well. And with the Han Solo movie in production now, Chewie is going to be pretty busy for a while.
Where were you in '77?
I’m really okay with this. Peter deserves a break and should take care of himself.
Keep Circulating the Tapes.
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(It hasn’t happened yet)