SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo says he filmed a deleted scene for Star Wars: The Force Awakens where he and Leia mourn Han’s death together. One of the more contentious moments in J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars film was the scene where Leia hugs Rey after Han is killed during the mission to destroy Starkiller Base, but ignores her old friend and Han’s companion Chewbacca. Abrams has even admitted the scene didn’t have the effect he intended, explaining Rey and Leia’s hug was meant to reflect a “commiseration of their mutual loss.” Unfortunately, that’s not how it played out for a lot of people.
Abrams didn’t repeat the mistake in The Rise of Skywalker, which featured a moment where Chewie yowls in anguish upon learning of Leia’s death after he and the others return from their mission to Kef Bir. The two characters had an equally touching interaction near the very end of Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi, where they’re shown hugging after escaping the First Order and reuniting aboard the Millennium Falcon. According to Suotamo, though, the pair originally did have a scene like that together in The Force Awakens, but it was cut.
Speaking to THR, Suotamo explained “My take on The Force Awakens’ missed hug was that Chewie was so preoccupied with helping Finn that his time to grieve and hug people came later”. He went on to reveal he had shot a “consolation scene” for Chewie with Leia that didn’t make the film’s theatrical cut and wasn’t included among the deleted scenes on its home video release. He added the “thought process” behind the moment differed from what ended up in the actual movie.
This wasn’t the only time a scene of a character grieving Han’s death was cut from the sequel trilogy. There was also a deleted clip from The Last Jedi where Luke, after learning about Han when Chewie and Rey show up on Ahch-To, takes a moment to gather his thoughts and reflect on his old friend’s passing before he deals with his unwelcome guests. Mark Hamill has voiced his disappointment about the scene being cut from The Last Jedi, but added he understands it’s all part of the filmmaking process. Suotamo echoed that sentiment in his interview with THR about Chewie and Leia’s deleted Force Awakens exchange, saying “those kinds of things always affect the final decision-making on the day.”
Presumably, the larger reason so many deleted scenes with the original trilogy’s leads ended up on the cutting floor was because the filmmakers decided it was better to keep the focus on new heroes like Rey, Finn, and Poe, rather than Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewbacca. That also explains why the Star Wars sequel trilogy doesn’t devote any real attention to Chewie’s relationship with Kylo Ren, even though Chewie surely helped to raise Han and Leia’s son as a child. It’s good the heroic Wookiee got the chance to mourn Leia’s passing, but it would’ve been nice if that hadn’t been the only time he really got to emote about losing so many members of his extended family. Save for this and a shot of him looking sad after Han’s death in The Force Awakens, Chewie was left to do most of his grieving off-screen, instead.
