From about the age of six, Gareth Edwards watched Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope “every day for at least a couple of years”. On long car journeys, he would recite whole chunks of George Lucas’ screenplay, much to the alarm of his family, who worried he might be autistic.

As much as the movie unlocked his childish imagination, that six-year-old would never have dreamt that he would one day be issuing orders to one of its most awe-inspiring, iconic characters.

“I’m thinking, they can’t make this film,” Edwards says. “It’s sacrilegious. Hallowed ground, really. Are they really going to do this? And I started to realise, well, they are going to do it …”

So Edwards figured, he may as well do it himself.

To read the full story, please visit the Sydney Morning Herald.