J.J. Abrams on Star Wars: 'You Have to Force Yourself to Start Over'

By Chris Taylor2013-05-03 15:47:36 UTC

They were supposed to discuss their new movie Star Trek: Into Darkness, but J.J. Abrams and actor Simon Pegg can't resist geeking out about their shared passion for Star Wars in this just-released video.

Pegg, who plays Scotty in Abrams' rebooted Trek franchise, makes a rather pointed compliment about Abrams and Star Wars: "I feel like it's in safe hands now ... you get it. You get it like a Star Wars fan gets it." Translation: the guy who directed the last three movies may not necessarily have gotten it the way a fan gets it.

And in case Pegg's take on the Star Wars prequels isn't clear, this scene from his UK comedy show Spaced might give you a clue:

Abrams, meanwhile, is as circumspect as we've come to expect from the director when it comes to discussing Episode VII, tentatively due in 2015. (When asked multiple questions about it in a Playboy interview published last week, Abrams' answers were repeatedly rendered as follows: "[smiles].")

But Abrams does talk about how he's approaching Star Wars in a different way from the Trek movies. Trek, he explains, was easier because he was never really a fan. He could approach the franchise fresh. Not being a fan was "a safety net" when it came to directing.

Since Abrams, like Pegg, was blown away by the original movie as a child in 1977 — indeed, he recalls reading about it and being enchanted before the release, in 1976 — Abrams recognizes he has to take a different approach.

"Part of the challenge of anything you come to pre-loving is you have to force yourself to start over," Abrams says, "and not assume anyone's going to care or be impressed."

Pegg then teases Abrams with the deadpan assertion that the title of the as-yet-unnamed movie will be The Further Adventures of Jar Jar Binks. Abrams' reaction could be best described as "[smiles]".

Thumbnail courtesy of Flickr, Gage Skidmore

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