Star Wars Greedo Still - H 2015
Courtesy of PhotofestFollowing the discovery of a copy of the original Star Wars script in a Canadian library recently, the Internet has been embroiled in yet another discussion over whether or not Han Solo shot Greedo first. Peter Mayhew decided to share a page from his own copy of the script to silence the debate — and, in the process, reveal the most unexpected piece of Star Wars trivia yet.
That Han shot first shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’d seen a version of the first Star Wars movie prior to its 1997 Special Edition re-release; in its original incarnation, Greedo doesn’t shoot at all, never mind manage to get a shot off before he’s killed by Han, as played by Harrison Ford. Sure enough, the script page shared by Mayhew, who plays Han’s co-pilot Chewbacca in the movie series, underscores that fact with directions that explain that “the slimy alien disappears in a blinding flash of light,” with no mention of another shot.
The patrons of the Cantina, the script goes on to describe, “look on in bemused amazement” as Greedo’s murder — or, rather, they would but for one surprising fact. Greedo isn’t called Greedo in the script. Surprisingly, he’s called “Allen.”
The name appears twice on the page shared by Mayhew, proving that it’s not a typo for “alien” — or, at least, if it was, it’s an oddly-repeated typo. The character was played by Paul Blake and Maria De Aragon in Star Wars (Blake performed the majority of the role, while De Aragon played the character in later reshoots), so it’s not as if the screenplay’s use of “Allen” was shorthand for the actor; it really appears that the character was originally called Allen. Well, if “Luke” and “Ben” could make it to a galaxy far, far away, it’s not entirely impossible that “Allen” could…
Mayhew’s Facebook post is below.
Posted by Peter-Angie Mayhew on Monday, June 8, 2015
Related Stories
