How Peter Mayhew Taught Joonas Suotamo to Play Chewbacca at ‘Wookiee Boot Camp’

For people to remember something, it needs to be unique. Peter Mayhew, who died April 30 at 74, made Chewbacca unique just by being real — even though Chewie happens to live in space in a fantastical world. Even though the character easily loses his temper, at his core is the warmth, loyalty and friendship that Peter brought to Star Wars. That's the mixture of shades we see when we look at Chewbacca — he's a complete being. So Peter created something that we will always remember.

For people to remember something, it needs to be unique. Peter Mayhew, who died April 30 at 74, made Chewbacca unique just by being real — even though Chewie happens to live in space in a fantastical world. Even though the character easily loses his temper, at his core is the warmth, loyalty and friendship that Peter brought to Star Wars. That's the mixture of shades we see when we look at Chewbacca — he's a complete being. So Peter created something that we will always remember.