I met Peter Mayhew on a few occasions, and he was always kind and generous with his time. I remember seeing the news reports in 2005 when he became and American citizen and the news report from our station in Texas sent their report around the country. When I spoke with Peter about that at Celebration 3 in Indianapolis he was immensely proud. And I will always get a kick out of that time I saw him and Mark Hamill at SDCC around 2009, as Mark proudly announced "Hey everybody, it's Peter Mayhew!" and the two of them started posing for pictures together for whomever was walking up to the table where they were both signing.
I don't think there really could have been a Chewbacca as we knew him without Peter. George Lucas said it perfectly - "Peter Mayhew IS Chewbacca". It wasn't just about him walking around in the suit and hitting a mark. It was his walk. The way he would tilt his head. A language of the body that exhibited strength and a gentle nature all at once. And Ron Howard encapsulated it even better when he said that there was a nobility to Chewbacca that's at the heart of the character. And it was because of George's vision and finding this gentle giant who brought the character to life and made us all believe.
I was glad to know that Peter worked on The Force Awakens, and that he personally taught Joonas Suotomo how to play the character moving forward. After seeing Solo? I think that Peter would be very proud of Joonas carrying on his legacy with Chewbacca.
