Kevin Smith sure likes talking about how being on the set of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" made him cry. You may have already heard this story before, but the ranconteur adds a bit of extra flavor to the tale in his most recent chat with the LA Times, where he spins the yarn again with some interesting additions.
“…they took me on set, and what I saw was not only beguiling but spellbinding. And also it was real, it was tactile. You could walk around on set and feel things…And I got to walk on the Millennium Falcon, which I cried after I did that," Smith revealed. And what impressed him the most was the emphasis on making as much of the movie as possible practical and real, instead of CGI. And being there was a bit of a time trip.
"And the whole time I’d been there, up until this moment, I was like, ‘Oh, this is neat, if you’re going to make ‘Star Wars,’ this makes sense.’…The moment I stepped on the Millennium Falcon 10 years dropped off my life. Suddenly I was in my 30s, and I hadn’t done ‘Cop Out,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, this is awesome.’ And then another 10 years dropped off, and I was in my 20s making all those movies people like, referencing ‘Star Wars’ like crazy and stuff. And then another step up the ramp, and I was in my 10s and lower, when I fell in love with this stuff, when it was my religion, when I was a kid," he explained. "Long before I made movies. I was a Catholic school kid; this mattered more than Jesus. They get mad when you say it; probably more so true now than when I was a kid. So by that third step, that fourth step up the landing ramp, I got so emotional. Suddenly I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is my whole life before I had a life.’ When I was a child, this sparked my love affair with movies. Just ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Jaws.’ I just start crying, and Morgan is like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry — usually everyone who comes here likes this.’ I was like, ‘Oh, I like it. I like it.’ "
And sure, maybe Smith is being slightly cornball, but I have a feeling as ‘The Force Awakens’ draws closer, it’s going to be a heady nostalgia trip for many if J.J. Abrams does it right.
See you on December 18th.