Mark Hamill says BB-8 ball droid in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' trailer is not CGI

While Mark Hamill doesn’t make an appearance in the 88-second Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer, he has been surprisingly talkative about it over the past few days. In one interview, he revealed a surprising fact about one of the trailer’s new stars.

No, Hamill didn’t tell us if John Boyega is really a Stormtrooper or not, but he did tell Yahoo Movies that the really cool ball droid is real. It isn’t a CGI character.

“They never cease to amaze me with what they’re able to come up with, you know? I said, ‘How are you ever gonna top R2-D2, the most adorable droid in movie history?’ And then they have this new one. I can’t even tell you his name, but you saw it in the trailer,” Hamill said. “And when they were demonstrating how they did this thing, live on set — because it’s not CGI, that’s a live prop — I was just amazed. They let me play around with it.”

That actually shouldn’t be a complete shock, since director J.J. Abrams made it a priority to minimize CGI in the new film. It’s a throwback to the Original Trilogy and a rejection of the cartoonish CGI from the prequels.

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Hamill also revealed that the beard he was seen with earlier this year was grown for The Force Awakens. He told Entertainment Weekly that it was the one thing about the shoot that he didn’t like.

“I’m not really a beard person,” Hamill said. “I suppose if I got used to it, I could become one. It’s just one of those things. I think they look fine on other people, it’s just not for me.”

Hamill also said that he had no problem with Disney showing off the young talent in the trailer.

“They showed us the footage, that’s all their decision, and we’ll just have to wait and see,” Hamill told EW. “Of the people involved, I think these kids who are doing these new characters show it is in very good hands.”

The Force Awakens on Dec. 18, 2015.

image courtesy of Famous/ACE/INFphoto.com