The Star Wars Stormtrooper Who Bonked His Head Almost Pooped His Pants As Well
George Lucas' original "Star Wars" may be the most over-examined film in the medium's history. Since its May 25, 1977 theatrical release, fans have scoured every scene for odd detail and bloopers, which has led to a load of trivial observations. Why was C-3PO tasked with burning the dead jawa corpses by himself, and did he suffer any PTSD from this grisly errand (which R2-D2 just watched like the freak that he is – though it's possible he pitched in by sparking the fire with his taser)? Did Mark Hamill accidentally yell "Carrie" when he disembarked his X-wing (Hamill says no, but the debate nevertheless rages on)?
Most importantly, what was up with the Stormtrooper who, upon boarding the Rebel Alliance's Tantive IV spacecraft at the beginning of the movie, bashed his head on a door ceiling?
There's no disputing this mistake. It's right there on-screen, and Lucas has yet to make an attempt to digitally remove it (that we know of). There's also, seemingly, not much to discuss beyond it happening. But The Hollywood Reporter got in touch with the actor responsible for the ignominious moment, and they uncovered a shocking, potentially messy secret.
A less than smooth move nearly begat the smoothest move of them all
In the interview with THR's Ryan Parker, actor Laurie Goode gave a blow-by-blow account of the head-bonk seen around the world, and painted a picture of a busy set with lots of moving parts and stormtroopers. Evidently, other folks cracked their noggins on doors and whatnot, but Goode's knock was the only one that made the final cut.
And I say he earned it because he very nearly made a much nastier accident in his stormtrooper suit. Per Goode:
"On the second day of filming, I developed an upset stomach. By midmorning I had paid three to four visits to the loo/bathroom. Having re-dressed myself and returned to the set, I felt the need to rush back to the gents' toilets, but I was placed in [the] shot. On about the fourth take, as I shuffled along, I felt my stomach rumbling, and 'bang,' I hit my head! As I wasn't moving too fast, it was more of a scuffed bash, so it didn't hurt, but as no one shouted 'cut,' I thought the shot wasn't wide enough for me to be in frame."
Goode's bowels evidently held fire, which spared the costuming department a clean-up job for the ages. Post-"Star Wars," the actor landed bit parts in "For Your Eyes Only" and "An American Werewolf in London," but he never scored a breakout role. Though he kept busy as an actor, and eventually got into screenwriting, his career, as far as fanboys are concerned, peaked with that Imperial owie.