Director Irvin Kershner helmed The Empire Strikes Back, arguably considered the best installment in the Star Wars franchise. During an interview, Kershner discussed several aspects of the iconic film, including the romance between Harrison Ford’s Han Solo and Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia.
At the same time, Kershner spoke about the line in the film where Leia and Solo profess their love for each other. In the interview, the director revealed that the scene was improvised during a difficult day of filming, especially since it was an extremely hot day. Here is what Kershner had to say about the iconic Harrison Ford line from The Empire Strikes Back.
Irvin Kershner Reveals the Origin of One of Harrison Ford’s Most Iconic Star Wars Line
Irvin Kershner directed the second installment in the franchise, The Empire Strikes Back, which is considered one of the best films in the space opera saga. The film features Harrison Ford as Han Solo, with the smuggler turned Rebel pilot starting a romance with Princess Leia.
During an interview with StarWars.com, Kershner spoke about the origins of Ford’s iconic reply to Carrie Fisher’s character professing her love for him. The filmmaker revealed that Ford’s “I know” reply was improvised during filming.
“That’s the day I got stuck on a line. Well, we shot that, it was very hot that day, (and) we had steam shooting in our faces.“
Kershner made the above statement explaining that the scene was filmed on a blistering hot day. However, the director felt that the original line in the scene wasn’t working out.
Ultimately, Kershner kept filming even in the heat as the crew just wanted to move on to a lunch break. However, Kershner insisted that they keep filming until Ford struck the right line he wanted for the scene, despite himself being tired of filming in the heat.
Irvin Kershner Explains Why George Lucas Had a Problem With the Improvised Line
In the same interview, Kershner also explained his logic behind keeping Ford’s improvised line in the final cut of The Empire Strikes Back. However, the director admitted that franchise creator George Lucas was initially unsure about the dialog.
This guy wouldn’t give the woman the advantage.
Kershner made the above statement, revealing why he did not want to use the simpler scripted response from Solo. The director felt that the reply “I love you too,” wasn’t suited to Solo’s character and overall personality.
Despite Kershner providing sound logic for his decision, Lucas felt that the audience would laugh at the reply, thereby cutting the tension created by the scene.
However, Kershner found another way to rebuild the tension of the film’s climax, resulting in him keeping the improvised line. Nonetheless, the audience laughed at the scene during the test screening, proving Lucas’ concerns legitimate.
The Empire Strikes Back is streaming on Disney+.
