We’ve all seen Chewbacca roar, pilot the Falcon, and hug Han Solo like a brother. But how much do we really know about the man inside the suit? Peter Mayhew played Chewie for nearly 40 years—and yet, there are still details about his life that most fans have never heard. Here are a few that even the diehards tend to miss.
Table of Contents
- 1. Peter Mayhew has played Chewbacca in every Star Wars film other than Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but was still listed in the credits of that film as “Chewbacca Consultant”.
- 2. His Last Chewbacca Scene Was His Most Subtle but Unforgettable
- 3. Why Chewbacca’s Actor Chose the Hero Over Darth Vader
- 4. The Rare Genetic Condition Behind Chewbacca’s Towering Height
- 5. He Wasn’t an Actor; Mayhew Was a Hospital Worker When Lucas Found Him
1. Peter Mayhew has played Chewbacca in every Star Wars film other than Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but was still listed in the credits of that film as “Chewbacca Consultant”.
Peter Mayhew wore the Chewbacca suit in every saga film from A New Hope (1977) to The Force Awakens (2015). But due to worsening health, he passed the role to Joonas Suotamo, a Finnish actor and former basketball player, who shared the screen with him in The Force Awakens.
Mayhew officially retired from performing after that film, but he was still involved behind the scenes. In The Last Jedi (2017), although Suotamo performed all of Chewbacca’s scenes, Mayhew was credited as “Chewbacca Consultant”, helping Suotamo capture the subtle body language and movements that had defined the character for decades.
From that point on, Suotamo fully took over as Chewbacca in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019), while Mayhew stepped away completely.
According to Wikipedia and a report by The Telegraph’s Rebecca Hawkes, Mayhew’s contribution continued to shape the character long after he left the screen.
To break it down:
- Original Trilogy – Mayhew played Chewbacca in A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.
- Prequel – Returned for Revenge of the Sith (2005).
- Transition Film – Shared the role in The Force Awakens (2015).
Consultant Credit – Credited as “Chewbacca Consultant” in The Last Jedi (2017). - Fully Retired – Did not appear or consult on Solo or The Rise of Skywalker.
2. His Last Chewbacca Scene Was His Most Subtle but Unforgettable
By the time The Force Awakens (2015) was in production, Peter Mayhew’s health had significantly declined, particularly due to chronic knee and back pain. According to Entertainment Weekly, he was using a wheelchair during filming, and director J.J. Abrams brought him back specifically to perform Chewbacca’s quieter scenes, mainly those set inside the Millennium Falcon.
Mayhew’s final on-screen appearance as Chewbacca was during the scene where the Wookiee is wounded and resting in the Falcon’s medbay after the Starkiller Base mission. As noted in Wikipedia, these moments were the last time he physically portrayed the character. The more active sequences were handled by Finnish actor Joonas Suotamo, who fully took over the role in later films.
3. Why Chewbacca’s Actor Chose the Hero Over Darth Vader
When Peter Mayhew met George Lucas for the first time, he made an immediate impression—just by standing up, he convinced Lucas that he was perfect for the part. Interestingly, Mayhew was considered for two roles: Chewbacca, the now-iconic 200-year-old Wookiee inspired by Lucas’s own dog, or the villain Darth Vader. Mayhew chose to become Chewbacca, leaving the role of Vader to David Prowse.
Mayhew later explained his decision simply: “he wanted to play a hero“.
According to an interview with IGN, Mayhew prepared for the role by observing animals like gorillas and bears at the zoo, studying their movements to find the right physical presence for the character. Once on set, he made a conscious effort not to just stand around but to react and engage with every scene, something that director George Lucas appreciated.
As Mayhew shared: “I went to the zoo and studied some of the animals that had Wookiee-like traits. Gorillas, bears. When I got to the set, I said to myself, ‘Okay, I can’t just stand around all day. I have to react to the situation.’ So I did that, and [George Lucas] seemed really happy.”
Since Chewbacca’s voice was created later in post-production, Mayhew relied on body language, expressing emotion and personality through subtle shifts in posture, gestures, and eye movement. He explained that his performance always depended on the scene: sometimes Chewbacca needed to look timid, sometimes angry, and at other times, quiet or curious. Thanks to Mayhew’s careful physical acting, Chewbacca became much more than a costume—he became one of the most loved and recognizable characters in the Star Wars galaxy.
4. The Rare Genetic Condition Behind Chewbacca’s Towering Height
While Peter Mayhew’s extraordinary height (221 centimeters) made him a perfect fit for Chewbacca, few fans know that his physical features were linked not only to gigantism but also to a heritable condition called Marfan syndrome. Marfan syndrome affects connective tissue, often resulting in tall, thin limbs and sometimes curvature of the spine. As Australian poet Andy Jackson, who also lives with Marfan syndrome, explains: “The most obvious sign of Marfan that people will see visually is that people tend to be tall and thin.”
But the challenges of Marfan syndrome go far beyond appearance. “The most significant risk is that people can have a problem with their heart,” Jackson told ABC. Heart complications can be fatal, as in the case of Jackson’s own father, who passed away at just 47 and was believed to have had Marfan as well.
Medical progress has made a difference. According to Jackson, “When I was first diagnosed, there was talk that the normal Marfan lifespan was 30 to 40 years… That is now very different, mainly because of beta blockers… Nowadays, if people are aware that they have it and they’re monitored and live appropriately, they can have quite a normal lifespan.”
5. He Wasn’t an Actor; Mayhew Was a Hospital Worker When Lucas Found Him
Before Star Wars, Peter Mayhew wasn’t an actor—he was working as an orderly at King’s College Hospital in London. He had no formal training, no agent, and no connection to the film industry. His height—7 feet 3 inches—was what initially caught attention. After appearing in a newspaper article about exceptionally tall people, Mayhew was cast as the silent Minoton in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977).
That same year, George Lucas was looking for someone tall enough—and kind enough—to wear the Chewbacca suit. Mayhew stood up at his audition, and Lucas immediately knew he had found his Wookiee.
According to CinemaBlend, Lucas later recalled:
“Peter was a wonderful, wonderful man. He kept his job in the hospital through the first three movies. But he fell in love with the character… He was very gentle, very sweet, very easy to get along with. He was more like a Wookie than I originally imagined a Wookie to be.”
Mayhew continued working at the hospital throughout the filming of the original trilogy. Only after Star Wars exploded in popularity—and convention appearances became more frequent—did he step away from medicine and embrace his new identity as the man behind Chewbacca.