Alec Guinness' Scathing Star Wars Letter Stole The Show At Letters Live
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ star Oscar Isaac stole the show at Letters Live last night reading a typically withering letter written by Sir Alec Guinness while he was filming ‘A New Hope’ in 1976.
The note, addressed to the actor’s friend Anne Kauffman, criticises the film’s “rubbish dialogue” and calls Harrison Ford “a rangy, languid young man”. Isaac’s reading of the letter - his second appearance of the night - was met with rapturous applause at the literary event.
The note from Guinness (which is reproduced in full on Mashable), reads:
“I have returned to London this evening for my stint at the studio for the rest of the week. Can’t say I’m enjoying the film, new rubbish dialogue reaches me every other day on wadges of pink paper — and none of it makes my character clear or even bearable. I just think, thankfully, of the lovely bread, which will help me keep going until next April even if ‘Yahoo’ collapses in a week.”
“I must off to studio and work with a dwarf (very sweet, – and he has to wash in a bidet) and your fellow countrymen Mark Hamill and Tennyson (that can’t be right) Ford — Ellison (? – No!*) — well, a rangy, languid young man who is probably intelligent and amusing. But Oh, God, God, they make me feel ninety — and treat me as if I was 106.
Love,
Alec
*Harrison Ford — ever heard of him?”
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Letters Live is an annual event that celebrates the lost of letter writing and features celebrities performing readings of famous and iconic letters in front of a live audience. Benedict Cumberbatch, Kylie Minogue, and Sir Ian McKellen have all performed in the past.
The event continues until 16 March at London’s Freemasons’ Hall, with tickets available here.
Image credits: Rex Features
