'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Star Mark Hamill Reveals What He's Doing Differently This Time Around

The new trailer for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” practically had fans salivating over the upcoming seventh installment in the beloved franchise. Even Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, is still getting over the idea of returning to a galaxy far, far away.

The 63-year-old actor has had a whirlwind year as he tries to process all the emotions that come with retaking the mantle of the quintessential hero. Previously, we reported on his reaction to the 88-second teaser trailer -- getting choked up watching fans go crazy over the first look. With that in mind, in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hamill discussed what he’s doing differently with Luke Skywalker this time around.

“It’s kind of like Scrooge on Christmas morning. ‘Oh, my God, this time I’m going to appreciate it in a way I wasn’t able to as a young man,'” Hamill told the outlet. “The fact that it is so special to so many people … it’s hard to believe you could take something for granted like that.”

Realizing that might have sounded like a disservice to the previous trilogy, he quickly amended by saying he knew what he was doing back then was special, but that this time around, with a more mature perspective and a deep understanding of “Star Wars” fans, it's felt to him like finding $20 in an old pair of trousers.

While Luke Skywalker is perhaps the biggest character returning to the franchise, he’s not the only one making a comeback. Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher will reprise their roles as Han Solo and Princess Leia, respectively. Hamill recently told The Guardian he was prepared to turn his back on the franchise forever if his two co-stars didn’t agree to come back for the J.J. Abrams-directed trilogy. Luckily for fans, they did agree to return, but it's not likely the three will be the prominent story leads they once were. Hamill was quick to note the older generation wouldn't be the focus of the new films.

“This is about the new generation of characters. I think that’s the most important thing,” said Hamill. “It’s the opening act of a whole new approach to the storytelling. So I never thought that the stories would be – first of all, I never thought I’d be involved in it again, period. And then, when George [Lucas] said that they wanted to do more, I rightly assumed that it wouldn’t be our story, because we had a beginning, a middle and an end.”

This was a point that the filmmakers were apparently trying to drive home with the release of the first teaser trailer. While it had a few shoutouts to the previous films in terms of X-Wings, TIE fighters and, of course, the Millennium Falcon, Hamill, Ford and Fisher were purposely left out.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” hits theaters Dec. 18, 2015. Before then fans can hear Hamill's voiceover work in the upcoming holiday special "Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas."