Jamie Christopher, second assistant director for many of my favorite movies, including The Last Jedi and Knives Out, passed away this past week. He was only 52 years old.
According to Variety, Rian Johnson said in a statement: “Jamie was a good friend, and he loved making movies. He loved his crew, loved his job, the process of it and the history of it. He was truly one of the greats, and this is a heartbreaking loss for everyone who was lucky enough to work with him.” (Johnson also shared an anecdote his Instagram stories about Christopher telling Carrie Fisher dirty jokes to keep her in the zone on the set of Episode VIII when they had technical issues between takes. Now that’s professionalism.)
We tend to focus on the famous names on the marquee, but movies are made by teams of people who manage invisible, essential things we rarely think about in our online discourse. (If you haven’t watched The Director and The Jedi documentary, stop reading this now and get to it, you’ll see what I mean.) Jamie Christopher was an essential part of films we all love and my heart goes out to his friends and family. May the Force be with you and your loved ones too.
I was gifted this friggin’ awesome Empire Strikes Back 1980 Burger King collectors glass by our friends Melanie and Nat. It has the following text:
“Luke is the son of a Jedi who was killed years before by the evil Darth Vader. Luke first learns of the Force through Obi-Wan Kenobi, the last of the Jedi Knights, who later also falls to Vader’s terrible lightsaber. To receive instruction in utilization of the Force, Luke travels to Dagobah, the bog planet. He is trained to become a Jedi Knight by Yoda, the wizened old Jedi Master. Yoda has taught Jedi Knights for eight hundred years. Gradually mastering the Force, Luke becomes an increasingly brave and resourceful warrior.”
I love artifacts like these, and not only for nostalgia, but as a reminder of how the story of Star Wars has evolved over the years.