The passing of the Wookiee torch
Suotamo fills big suit as ‘new’ Chewbacca
Given everything that Joonas Suotamo inherited from his predecessor, Peter Mayhew, the “cool shirt” may not seem like the most notable of hand-me-downs.
But it may have been one of the most practical.
“Cool” does not refer to levels of hipness or fashion in this case. While shooting Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in the Jordanian desert, the hairy body of a Wookiee wasn’t the most comfortable place for Suotamo to be trapped inside. So the 33- year- old, 6- foot- 11, Finnish actor was grateful when a crew member presented him with his mentor’s “cool shirt.”
“We went in a time of year when it was not as hot as it could be,” says Suotamo, in an interview with Postmedia News in Pasadena. “Still, the sun was scorching.”
Whatever material the “cool shirt” was made of, it apparently did the trick for the actor in helping him survive the blistering sun as he took on the role of Han Solo’s fiercely loyal if short- tempered sidekick. It turns out the garment had been acquired for Mayhew during production of 2015’s The Force Awakens, which was also the film where the Chewbacca baton was officially passed to Suotamo. He was enlisted to be a body double for his predecessor, but also performed some of the more physical scenes because Mayhew was recovering from knee- replacement surgery. Eventually, Mayhew relinquished the role to his successor, who would go on to play him in three more films. The actor passed away last April from a heart attack at age 74.
Suotamo clearly holds Mayhew in high regard. During an interview a few weeks back to promote The Rise of Skywalker, which hits theatres Dec. 19, much of the conversation was dedicated to praising Mayhew. When the actor passed away, Suotamo penned a poignant tribute in Time Magazine, suggesting the role Mayhew originated in the first Star Wars film in 1977 would always be intrinsically linked to the actor because his personality shone so brightly beneath the Chewbacca suit. After filming The Force Awakens, Mayhew spent a week working with his successor in a one- on- one “closed session” for what Suotamo called Wookiee boot camp. They would watch footage from the original trilogy and Mayhew would offer his insights about the character and how he should be played. There was a definite art to the physicality and Mayhew’s unique approach to the character, Suotamo says.
“I’ve always taken the original trilogy as my guidance,” he says. “I always admired how Chewbacca brought something to it. He was very memorable, very interesting, very intriguing character, even when he was not doing anything. He was always a part of Star Wars. That had a lot to do with Peter, the way he was, his persona. He didn’t crave a lot of attention, which I hope is part of my persona. But I’m always trying to capture that magic that I felt was there and I hope I’ve done it well enough.”
Of course, it’s hard not to attract attention when you are nearly seven feet tall. Suotamo’s height had helped in a very different sphere early on. He played on the Finnish national basketball team. In 2013, Star Wars producers contacted the Finnish Basketball Association for help finding someone who could be Mayhew’s body double. They were looking for a body type. They found an actor. It turns out, Suotamo’s first love has always been acting, dating back to his days in school plays. When a basketball scholarship brought him to Pennsylvania State University, he chose film studies over acting because he figured there would be a dearth of roles available to tall thespians.
Producers of The Force Awakens knew none of this, of course. They just needed someone who had blue eyes and was seven feet tall.
“The fact that I was interested in acting and could portray different demeanours and act a certain way, that had nothing to do with it initially,” he says. “But I think they were happy to find out that I was always interested in that.”
In the past five years, Suotamo has portrayed Chewbacca in four films: The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, Solo: A Star Wars Story and now The Rise of Skywalker, which writer-director J. J. Abrams says will be the final chapter of the nine- movie, 40- year Skywalker trilogy.
It did not leave the actor with much time to pursue other roles.
“Perhaps in the future I will commit to something else,” he says. “Whether it’s in a suit or without the suit, I’m happy to do either. The reward I get from performing a character or creature is something I’ve always wanted to do and I get a kick out of it.”