Director Irvin Kershner directed The Empire Strikes Backprobably the best part of the star Wars franchise. During an interview, Kershner discussed various aspects of the cult film, including the romance between Harrison Ford’s Han Solo and Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia.
At the same time, Kershner spoke about the line in the film in which Leia and Solo confess their love to each other. In the interview, the director revealed that the scene was improvised on a difficult day of shooting, especially since it was an extremely hot day. Here is what Kershner said about the iconic Harrison Ford line from The Empire Strikes Back.
Irvin Kershner reveals the origin of one of Harrison Ford’s most famous works star Wars line
Irvin Kershner directed the second part of the series, The Empire Strikes Backwhich is considered one of the best films in the space opera saga. The film stars Harrison Ford as Han Solo, in which the smuggler-turned-rebel pilot begins a romance with Princess Leia.
In an interview with StarWars.com, Kershner spoke about the origins of Ford’s iconic response to Carrie Fisher’s declaration of love. The filmmaker revealed that Ford’s “I know“ The answer was improvised during filming.
“That day I got stuck on a line. So, we were shooting this, it was very hot that day, (and) steam was shooting in our faces.“
Kershner made the above statement, explaining that the scene was shot on a sweltering hot day, but the director felt that the original plot of the scene didn’t work.
Ultimately, Kershner continued filming despite the heat, as the crew was only planning to take a lunch break. However, Kershner insisted that they continue filming until Ford found the right lines for the scene, even though he himself was tired of filming in the heat.
Irvin Kershner explains why George Lucas had a problem with the improvised line
In the same interview, Kershner also explained his logic behind keeping Ford’s improvised line in the final version of The Empire Strikes BackHowever, the director admitted that franchise creator George Lucas was initially unsure about the dialogue.
This guy would not give the woman any advantage.
Kershner made the above statement, revealing why he did not want to use the simpler answer from Solo. The director felt that the answer “I love you too”, did not fit Solo’s character and overall personality.
Although Kershner gave a sound reason for his decision, Lucas felt that the audience would laugh at the answer, which would reduce the tension created by the scene.
However, Kershner found another way to rebuild the tension of the film’s climax, which led him to keep the improvised plot. Despite this, audiences laughed at the scene during the test screening, proving that Lucas’ concerns were valid.
The Empire Strikes Back is streaming on Disney+.
