#WheresLuke has long been answered, but -- even before the very first trailer dropped -- fans were asking a great many more questions. In order to keep plot details undercover, director J.J. Abrams included Luke Skywalker himself Mark Hamill in the first table read, despite the fact Hamill has no lines for the film. However, Abrams had another important job for Hamill during the read.

“It was partly trickery,” Abrams explained to Entertainment Weekly. “We knew, obviously, that he didn’t speak in the film. And because we knew we were going to take pictures, and people knew he was in the movie, we needed to have him there.”

“It wouldn’t have been right not to have him there,” he added. “But it also wouldn’t have been right to have him there and not participate.”

As such, Abrams asked Hamill to read the stage directions -- a job Hamill had no problem performing. “It is a pretty herculean task, to ask an actor to read a hundred and twenty some pages aloud over the course of two plus hours,” Abrams shared. “It was a way of having [him] be part of every scene, every moment, not just spiritually or thematically or narratively, but actually. Having his voice in it made the read through a better experience for everyone.”

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” arrives Friday on Digital HD, and April 5 on Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD.