The team over at the Followers of the Force podcast caught up with Paul Hirsch, one of the three editors on Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back to discuss his career and his time helping craft the stories of the galaxy far, far away.
Paul Hirsch has had a storied career in Hollywood, editing films such as Carrie, Mission: Impossible, Ray and many others. But, the film many may recognize before those aforementioned is the ground-breaking phenomena from 1977 that awarded him an Academy Award, alongside Marcia Lucas and Richard Chew: Star Wars.
In this interview, Paul discusses his time working on Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, which he details extraordinarily in his new book “A Long Time Ago, In a Cutting Room Far, Far Away.”
Learn about how Twentieth Century Fox initially wanted the Death Star assault removed from the film, J.J. Abrams inviting him to watch a cut of The Force Awakens months before its release, and so much more.
“It was as if I were walking along and a flying saucer landed near me. A hatch opened and George stuck his head out, ‘Wanna go for a spin?’ he asked. I got in and went for a terrific ride. Then the saucer landed again, I got out, George smiled, waved, and took off again. It was the most fabulous adventure of my life,” – Paul Hirsch on what it was like during his time working with George Lucas on Star Wars.
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