Opinion Behind the mask

Peter Mayhew died last week at 74.

Outside of dedicated fans of the Star Wars franchise, the kind who attend conventions and are mediators of the Wikipedia page, most people wouldn’t have recognised Peter Mayhew if he walked by them. They would likely have noticed him — at over 7 feet, he certainly drew your gaze — but the joyful shrieks that would have accompanied the sight of Chewbacca were unlikely to have burst eardrums. It is possible to see Mayhew’s career, he died last week at 74, as somehow incomplete. But in a more important sense, his best-known performance is also a testament to the craft of cinema and what goes into making silver screen magic.

After having played the iconic Wookiee — a species that existed “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” — in four films, Mayhew fought back from being in a wheelchair to reprise his role in the rebooted franchise in The Force Awakens. For much of his career, the “gentle giant” played the witty and loyal sidekick and co-pilot to Harrison Ford’s Han Solo. We know of Chewbacca’s wit only thanks to Mayhew’s amazing ability to speak through his body, over layers of costume and makeup: Chewie, for those who do not know, is essentially a giant wolf-bear-man and “speaks” in what sounds to human years like canine yelps and howls.

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Mayhew did not receive the shallow accolades of stardom — the recognition and the celebrity — that even minor players from Star Wars otherwise have. He was the faceless heart of a sci-fi fairytale, one which has held sway over nearly half-a-century. He managed to weave subtleties into a character that could have easily become a caricature in the hands of a less dedicated performer. In that sense, Mayhew was more like a part of the crew, the hundreds of technicians, artists, craftspersons that make the massive enterprise, the wonder we see on screen, possible without ever being the centre of attention. And in doing so, he achieved a kind of perfection the best actors aspire to — he became Chewbacca.