Haunted by (his statements about touching) the Hutt: A Diego Luna story
Sometimes, things get blown out of proportion
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Diego Luna is haunted by Jabba the Hutt.
Well, less by Jabba himself and more by his own previous comments about his interest in getting his hands on the fleshy worm-esque Star Wars alien. While doing press for his first foray into the world of Star Wars, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Luna mentioned in an interview that he was very interested in touching Jabba the Hutt.
Knowing Star Wars fans and the state of the internet in 2016, it comes as no surprise that Luna's interest in Jabba became a semi-viral situation, with the question of Luna’s interest in getting his hands on Jabba showing up in interview after interview after interview.
Journalists like a good story (it's true). It probably didn’t help that Luna genuinely did seem interested in touching Jabba the Hutt. Over the press tour, Luna continued to answer questions about his obsession (yes, he used the word obsession) with Jabba the Hutt’s texture. But by the time he made an appearance on Jimmy Fallon four years later, Luna clearly regretted his life choices, telling Fallon that before he had started Star Wars, journalists didn’t really care about his projects. Of course, that all changed with Rogue one, “I’m such an idiot… You say one thing and it haunts you forever.”
Luna continued to explain that it all started with “ONE interview! And I was asked and asked and asked about Jabba, and it started to feel like I was in love with Jabba. It’s not!” The Jabba story quickly became the thing Luna was known for, to the point that people in his life had begun to gift him Jabbas. “I have like seven Jabbas at home. Everybody gives me Jabbas.”
As a writer who does keep an eye out for a funny story, I totally understand how something like this could get a little out of hand. I mean, who wouldn't want to ask Luna about his fascination with Jabba the Hutt? But still, this may be a bit of a lesson that just because something gets repeated over an dover in interviews, doesn't mean that it's the sole most important interest in that person's life.
But the story isn’t over, at least not yet. In 2022, Luna told Comicbook.com that he never did (at least at that point) end up getting the chance to touch Jabba the Hutt. "Sadly, I thought it was gonna happen, but it hasn't happened and I think I'm over it now, you know? It's like I just accept the fact that I will never, never, yeah, satisfy that curiosity."
Perhaps our collective (and to be fair, probably annoying) interest in Luna’s interest has truly killed his desire to touch the Hutt. Or perhaps it has simply killed his desire to talk about it. Either way, if you see Luna, best not give him a Jabba figurine-- it’s probably a poor substitute for the real thing anyway.
