Dive into the Star Wars feed on Reddit, and most of the time you’ll find fascinating fan theories, frame-by-frame digests and wild speculation. But occasionally the community throws up some genuine love.


Step forward Peter Mayhew, arguably the greatest Star Wars actor you never see. The 7ft 2in actor plays Chewbacca, and is almost more excited to share in the Star Wars hype online than Daisy Ridley.

Mayhew was one of the first to comment on the new Star Wars trailer when it was posted on Reddit last night.

OK, actor returns to a saga he loves and wants to tell people all about it. No big deal, right?

But Mayhew then spent the next couple of hours sharing the Star Wars love with some of the movie’s most dedicated fans. Now that’s dedication.

Users couldn’t believe that they could actually speak to Chewie, let alone that he would reply.

Chewie knows his audience: “This movie is only possible because of the fans that kept the series alive.” In other words: “Rrrrrrr-ahahghghgh!”

The best thing about Star Wars in a social media age? We all get to step into a larger world together…


(Oh, and just in case you don’t believe this is the real Peter Mayhew, here’s the photo he shared of himself with Darth Vader actor David Prowse from 1978, the *second* greatest Star Wars actor you never see. Where there’s a Wookie, there’a a way.)