10 Fun Facts You Never Knew About 'Star Wars: A New Hope!'

In 1977, George Lucas released Star Wars, a space-opera movie way ahead of its time. I watched it last month, and it had great writing, acting, directing, and it looked amazing.

So, here are ten fun facts about Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

In one scene, Luke is dragged underwater by a trash compactor monster. When filming this scene, Hamill had to actually hold his breath underwater, and he did it for so long that he burst a blood vessel in his face.

You might be able to see the popped vessel in his left eye later in the film.

And that's why the next few shots in the scene hide the one side of his face.

2. Harrison Ford wasn't originally going to portray Han Solo.

George Lucas previously knew Ford after they worked together on American Graffiti, and he was initially only brought in during casting to deliver lines with other actors.

However, he liked Ford's acting style, so he was cast as Han Solo.

3. Star Wars used to have a really stupid title.

Imagine watching a movie that just came out. The opening title turns out to be Adventures of the Starkiller as Taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars.

You would just walk out of the theater, wouldn't you? Because that was the name of the second draft of the movie. Thank God they shortened it.

4. R2-D2 was initially going to be able to speak English lines.

The famous droid used to be able to speak in English with C-3PO, and he was actually going to curse a lot, but his dialogue was removed in post-production and replaced with his iconic beeps.

And the decision made R2's scenes more fun, because during his interactions with C-3PO, we only understood C-3PO's responses, which made it funnier.

5. George Lucas's ex-wife decided to kill Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Lucas was struggling with writer's block while writing the script, and his wife, Marcia, who also edited the film, suggested that C-3PO get shot.

George said no, because he wanted the film to begin and end with the droids, so she decided to have Obi-Wan get killed. George agreed and wrote that into the film.

There is a scene where Han is trying to speak with the Galactic Empire workers on the intercom. For this scene, actor Harrison Ford intentionally didn't remember his lines so that it would sound as spontaneous as it could be for Han.

7. Lucas didn't allow Carrie Fisher to wear a bra during her scenes.

Fisher, the actress who portrayed Leia, was planning on wearing a bra underneath her costume, but Lucas didn't allow it, because he said that there was no underwear in space. So, Fisher didn't wear a bra, but taped her breasts down to cover it up more. It must have been painful taking the tape off.

And sure, George. That's why Fisher couldn't wear any underwear on set. That's why.

8. The word, "wookiee," was coined years before being used in the film.

When Lucas was working with Terry McGovern in THX 1138, McGovern said, "I think I ran over a wookiee back there." Lucas asked what a "wookiee" was, and McGovern admitted that he made up the word.

Lucas never forgot the word, and decided to use it in the film.

9. The cast and crew would often forget there was an actor in the R2-D2 costume.

Kenny Baker was a 3 foot 8 in tall actor, who played R2-D2. He has admitted that there were times where the cast and crew broke for lunch and forgot that he was in there.

And for the record, he reprised his role in The Force Awakens, and I don't know if he was overjoyed or mad about that.

10. The actors considered George Lucas to be extremely uncommunicative.

When directing his actors how to act, Lucas would usually only tell them to be "faster" or "more intense." So, when he lost his voice during filming, he was simply given a board where one side said "faster" and the other said "more intense."

And for the record, he was giving those directions to actors like Carrie Fisher, who he ordered to have no bra.

I'm just kidding. I don't know jack about Lucas.

So—anyways—those were ten fun facts about 'Star Wars: Episode IV!'