Actor, wife host ‘Return of the Jedi’ anniversary screening

By Chris Torres 
Signal Staff Writer 

During a panel discussion, Santa Clarita Mayor Jason Gibbs asked actor Kevin Thompson, who played Chubbray the Ewok in “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,” what he would like to see in the Star Wars franchise moving forward. 

Thompson, who has a condition categorized as a form of dwarfism, said he wants to see a little person star in a role where they don’t have to hide behind a mask. 

“We’ve had all these characters with so many little people in masks, in robots and in puppets,” said Thompson. “But there has not been a character, male or female, to play a good or bad guy without a mask on. I would like to see that.” 

Kevin and his wife Tracey are both little people and have always been advocates for proper representation for others like them in movies and television.  

So, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,” the Thompsons hosted a free screening event of the movie at the Newhall Family Theater of Performing Arts Thursday that included a roundtable discussion with other notable crew members who worked on the film along with special Star Wars character appearances. 

Although the event was free, donations were encouraged with all proceeds going to Little People of America, the Thompsons’ charity of choice. 

Hundreds of people took photos with members of the 501 Legion dressed in costumes such as Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, along with storm troopers, scout troopers and jawas. 

For the panel discussion, the Thompsons were joined by special effects technicians Kirk Thatcher and Kevin Pike, and stuntman Mike Cassidy, who were all involved in the production of “Return of the Jedi.” Gibbs served as the master of ceremonies for the event. 

The former crew members discussed their experiences working with director George Lucas, actors Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, and the unique movie props used on set. 

Thatcher, Pike and Cassidy spoke about how hard it was to see in the stormtrooper helmets, which contributed to the inaccurate blaster aim that stormtroopers were notorious for. During a specific scene, Thatcher said there was a big foam rubber pit where stormtroopers had to land, but two stuntmen who jumped in it ended up breaking their legs on the first day of filming. 

“What happened was the foam rubber caught the guys’ feet and the two British stunt guys broke their ankles or their legs because they went feet first,” said Thatcher. “So we lost two guys on the first day.” 

Gibbs asked Tracey about the book she wrote about her husband Kevin called “My Journey to Endor,” in which she details their experiences while Kevin was working on the movie. 

Tracey said her favorite part of the book is when she writes about how Kevin, who was 22 years old at the time, was becoming lonely because he was away from home and family for a long period of time while filming “Return of the Jedi.” 

She detailed how Kevin had to get up on top of an All Terrain Scout Transport (AT-ST) walker for a scene where he was able to look out at the beautiful sunset and the lush scenery. It was at that moment where Kevin realized that this movie he was filming is bigger than who he was. 

“He was just becoming a man at the time,” said Tracey. “He’s processing everything while life is going on and he is filming the biggest movie ever at that time. So that was my favorite chapter of the book.” 

Toward the end of the discussion, Tracey agreed with Kevin about how it would be “wonderful to see” a little person as an unmasked character in a film, but also mentioned how cinema is in the age of CGI and how it is beginning to replace little people in their characters.  

As an advocate for little people’s representation in movies, Kevin went on to voice his disagreement with how Disney is doing a “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” movie with CGI little people. 

“It’s going to be Snow White and the Seven CGI’s,” said Thompson. 

“I think we all agree that CGI cannot replace people like Kevin and Tracey,” said Gibbs in response.  

The Thompsons’ memoir is available on Amazon. For more information on Little People of America, visit www.lpaonline.org. 

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