Alabama Public Radio newsroom student intern Barry Carmichael recently reported on a bill before the state legislature that would widen the incentives to bring entertainment projects to Alabama. The state already has served as the location for filming of Hollywood classics including “Close Encounters of Third King,” “Mississippi Burning,” and obviously “Sweet Home Alabama.” That list of films also features “The Life of Chuck,” based on a novel by Stephen King, which was shot along the Alabama Gulf coast. That includes a tie-in to “Star Wars” and the observance of “May the 4th Be With You” Day, which is followed by Monday's "Revenge of the 5th." Both are a play on words related to the Sci Fi film classic series.
Barry’s radio story included an interview with Mobile resident and veteran TV meteorologist John Oldshue, husband of APR Gulf coast correspondent Lynn Oldshue. He was hired as an actor known as an “extra” by producers of “Life of Chuck.” Oldshue portrayed a Rabbi at a memorial service that was shot at a church cemetery in Daphne. Look for the movie trailer that advertises “Life of Chuck,” where that scene is featured.
Here's the tie-in with Star Wars.
Fans of the science fiction movie series observe the date of May the 4th as “May the 4th Be With You Day.” The “force” being this mystical power that enables Star Wars characters called “Jedi Knights” to see the future, move objects with their minds, and fight with weapons called light sabers. Star Wars fans also observe today, May 5th, as “Revenge of the Fifth” day in remembrance of the film “Revenge of the Sith,”—but we digress.
One of the stars of John Oldshue’s film “The Life of Chuck” was actor Mark Hamill, also known for playing the character “Luke Skywalker” in Star Wars. He was on hand for filming along the Gulf coast, and Oldshue said producers were careful to set boundaries for the extras playing parts during the shoot.
“They said, ‘Listen, you're going to be on scene with Mark Hamill,’” recalled Oldshue. “Don't, don't talk with him. Don't ask him questions. You know, he, he's, you know, he's trying to be a professional.”
Oldshue took that statement to heart.
“So, I wanted to very much follow the letter of the law, but everybody else completely ignored the suggestions, where they were asking Mark about what he had done,” he recalled.
Ooops.
Along with being Luke Skywalker, movie fans along the Gulf coast were apparently at liberty to ask Mark Hamill about previous roles ranging from being the voice of the “Joker” in the animated version of Batman to the villain “The Trickster” in the 1991 CBS-TV version of “The Flash” starring John Wesley Shipp as the “scarlet speedster.”
Back to John Oldshue.
“He (Mark Hamill) was asking about waffle houses down in Alabama, and I was still, still too scared to say anything to him,” he said. “And, so I never actually said anything until their very last scene, and Mark was walking up to get into position, and he tripped a little bit. And I said, ‘Hey, watch your step.’ So I had three words to and he kind of nodded at me, so that's my whole Mark Hamill story. Got I got to tell Luke Skywalker to ‘watch his step.’”
“The Life of Chuck,” featuring Mobile actor John Oldshue, as well as Mark Hamill, Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Mia Sara recently won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival.
