Via abcnew.go.com:
The episode featured a “Star Wars”-themed version of “Liewitness News” and a pre-recorded segment with Harrison Ford and Chewbacca. Ford, who didn’t appear in studio, revisited an older Kimmel bit that revealed Chewie had stolen Ford’s wife.
This time around, a despondent Chewie appeared ready to end it all on the ledge of Kimmel’s Hollywood studio building, and Ford didn’t want to coax him down — until a flashback set to Adele’s “Hello” helped Ford remember the good times he shared with the walking carpet.
“Go to him!” Kimmel pleaded. “Go to your friend!” Together, Ford and Chewie then hugged it out on the roof.
During an interview, Kimmel asked Abrams the one question every fan wanted to know: what the hell did the finale of “Lost” mean? “They’re in purgatory, right?!” Kimmel pleaded with Abrams, who in addition to co-writing, directing, and producing the latest “Star Wars” film, also co-created “Lost.”
Abrams, a life-long “Star Wars” fan, admitted he originally turned down the offer to direct “The Force Awakens” when Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy approached him. The director said his wife helped him see that if he didn’t take the job he’d “regret it for the rest of my life.”
“And if it goes poorly, you will regret it for the rest of your life,” Kimmel said. “This is true,” Abrams said.
Abrams also made news by revealing, to much fanfare, the first spoken word of The Force Awakens: “This.”
The cast discussed the secrecy of filming the film, with Boyega joking he locked himself in a basement until he discovered he’d been hired. The first person he told was his agent, and the second, his dad. “Oh my God!” said Boyega, imitating his dad’s Nigerian accent. “You are in Star Wars?! That is fantastic! I knew it! What is Star Wars?”
Driver said he didn’t even tell his wife that he was cast in the film.
Daisy Ridley is a relative unknown, and she said “it’s been a process” getting used to being in what will be one of the biggest movies of all time. “Obviously, I’ve never had anyone going, ‘Can you sign a picture?’ of me. So that’s to get used to. But I’m just obviously pleased to be a part of the film and everything else that comes is cool.”
Fisher, who appeared via hologram in an earlier bit, told Kimmel she didn’t have to watch the old films to help her reprise her iconic character Leia Organa. She did joke that she does it nightly anyway, to “feel bad about how badly I’ve aged…it puts me to sleep.”
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” officially opens Dec. 18, and will be released by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
