The Star Wars Franchise: Cast Pressures of Secrecy in the Age of Social Media

As a star in a very protected movie franchise such as Star Wars, it can be very stressful to actors that are held to an almost impossible high standard of secrecy. This pressure is only amplified by the numerous social media platforms that are available to the world with only a click of the keyboard.

Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker in the films, is familiar with the fierceness of the franchise’s non-disclosure agreement (NDA) expectations. In a 2004 interview with Sound and Vision, Hamill recalls the talk he had with The Empire Strikes Back Directer Irvin Kershner about keeping the secret that Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker’s Father,

“…Kershner, the director, brought me aside and said “Now I know this, and George knows this, and now you’re going to know this, but if you tell anybody, and that means Carrie or Harrison, or anybody, we’re going to know who it is because we know who knows.”

These NDA pressures continues for the stars of the new films to this day!

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Adam Driver discusses just how careful he has learned to be with his wording with fans and media regarding his role as Kylo Ren in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VIII. In September of this year, Driver was quoted in Collider comparing Episode VIII to The Empire Strikes Back but that it “has a different tone” – a statement he denies saying.

“No, no, and that’s not even what I said. What I said was the tone of it was different, I didn’t say that it was gonna be in the vein of it. I was using it as an example, so poor example,“ said Driver, ”Next time I should say—I’m trying to think of another sequel to a movie that’s good. When I read the script, it was not what I expected, in the best of ways.”

It is sometimes understandable that fans and the media become so excited for a film that they will crave spoilers and interpret a quote differently from from what a cast member might have intended. There have been times with Star Wars Reporter that we too have been drawn into the excitement of “behind the scenes” set photos or reported on cast member quotes about a future film. There have been times that our excitement for the films got the better of us, and we reported on news we shouldn’t have.

We are sorry.

That is why we recommitted ourselves to a serious mind and higher standard of fandom journalism which we explain in our “A Promise to Our Readers” article. A promise we intend to keep both to our readers and to the Star Wars franchise.

Try to remember the NDA pressures for the cast of the Star Wars films when you think about finding and sharing spoilers, pictures and quotes on social media. Not only does it potentially hurt the franchise and cast but it also takes away the “experience” for fans.

And like a famous Jedi once Tweeted…

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