Published on Dec 25, 2015 
 
 "It's a very very very hard thing to do." George Lucas​ explains why he had to "break up" with Star Wars​ so that he and 'The Force Awakens' could both move on. ||||| LOS ANGELES (AP) — George Lucas has apologized for criticizing Disney's handling of "Star Wars" and saying he had sold his characters to "white slavers" in a recent interview with Charlie Rose. 
 
 FILE - In this April 17, 2015 file photo, George Lucas attends the Tribeca Talks: Director Series during the Tribeca Film Festival at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center, in New York. Lucas has apologized... (Associated Press) 
 
 In a statement issued Thursday, Lucas says he misspoke and used a "very inappropriate analogy." It's not clear what he meant, and Rose didn't ask a follow-up question on his PBS show that aired Dec. 24. 
 
 The "Star Wars" creator sold Lucasfilm to the Walt Disney Co. in 2012 for $4.06 billion, and the studio developed "The Force Awakens" with J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy. 
 
 Lucas discussed his decision to stay out of the new installment in the hourlong interview with Rose and criticized Disney's retro, fan-centric approach to the sequel. 
 
 In the statement, Lucas says Disney is moving the franchise in exciting directions. ||||| George Lucas, right, speaking with Charlie Rose. YouTube/Charlie Rose In a recent interview with Charlie Rose, George Lucas let some of his true feelings for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and Disney slip. 
 
 Lucas, who created the "Star Wars" saga, said he was against making the new movie "for the fans" and felt he sold the company he created, Lucasfilm, to "the white slavers," referring to Disney. [UPDATE: Lucas has issued an apology for his remark to Disney.] 
 
 This is somewhat surprising because Lucas has previously seemed supportive of "The Force Awakens." It's even been said that he liked the movie and attended its premiere. 
 
 When Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion in 2012, it gave Disney ownership of the "Star Wars" franchise. At the time, Lucas had some ideas for how "Episode VII" could be told. But it seems once the papers were signed, Disney told Lucas to take a hike. 
 
 "They looked at the stories and they said, 'We want to make something for the fans,'" Lucas said. "I said, 'All I want to do is tell a story'… They decided they didn't want to use those [my] stories, they decided they were going to do their own thing. They weren't that keen to have me involved anyway — if I get in there, I'm just going to cause trouble, because they're not going to do what I want them to do. And I don't have the control to do that anymore. All I would do is muck everything up. And so I said, 'OK, I will go my way, and I'll let them go their way.'" 
 
 Lucasfilm But it seems Lucas hasn't been able to let go. 
 
 "It's a very, very, very hard thing to do," Lucas said about letting go of the franchise, as well as another Lucasfilm property that is now Disney's, "Indiana Jones." "You have to say, 'I have to move on,' and everything in your body says, 'Don't. You can't.' These are my kids." 
 
 Rose then said, "Those were your kids … and you sold them." 
 
 "I sold them to the white slavers that take these things and, and …" Lucas then stopped himself and laughed, probably realizing he was about to get himself into some hot water. 
 
 So it's obvious that while "Star Wars" fans love "The Force Awakens" and it's a box-office juggernaut, the "remakequel" style it's in wouldn't have been the path Lucas would have taken if he were still at the helm. 
 
 Getty Images So why did George Lucas sell Lucasfilm? 
 
 "There are three more stories," Lucas told Rose, referring to episodes "VII," "VIII," and "IX." 
 
 "To do it right would be 10 years, and I said, 'I'm 70 — I don't know whether I'll be here when I'm 80,' every 10 years the odds get less, and I want to do [other films], so I have to make the decision on my own that it's time for me to move on." 
 
 Watch a clip with the above quotes in the embed below. Watch the entire interview here. ||||| Do you prefer to be called Leo or Leonardo? 
 
 Either one is fine. Most people call me Leo. 
 
 Didn’t an agent try to make you change your name? 
 
 Yeah, when I was 11 years old, when I first wanted to be an actor professionally. We went to an agent and they wanted to change my name to Lenny Williams. 
 
 That’s not cool... 
 
 Not really. They felt my name was too ethnic and I wouldn’t get as many jobs. So that thwarted me from being an actor for a number of years. I tried again two years later when I was 13 and got an agent to accept me with my name. 
 
 You earned an Oscar nomination soon after. How does that feel when you’re 19? 
 
 For Gilbert Grape, yeah. And I absolutely didn’t know how to react to any of it. I remember coming out of a screening and somebody telling me how great they thought my performance was and that there was a potential for me to be nominated. I’d never heard anything like that before. It was all completely confusing. I didn’t understand how hard it is to accomplish something like that. 
 
 When was the last time you saw What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? 
 
 Couple of years ago. 
 
 Do you recognise yourself? 
 
 That and This Boy’s Life, especially, both those films I get quite nostalgic about. It’s sometimes emotional watching them because I feel like I’m that kid again. Really just incredibly happy to have gotten a shot. So I remember a lot of those moments on set like they were yesterday, especially working with people like De Niro and (Johnny) Depp at that age. It was like winning the lottery. 
 
 Do you ever think ‘Leo-mania’ was too much too soon? 
 
 I’ve thought about that question a lot. A lot of people may look at what I’ve done career-wise and say that there was a period in which I tried to possibly become a movie star, per se, (and) tried to go for much bigger pictures. 
 
 Any truth in that? 
 
 The truth of the matter is, there was a period of time, very early on, when I started watching films and having heroes in the industry, actor-wise. But I feel I’ve been consistent about my dreams and what I wanted to be as an actor. 
 
 Did that include playing Robin in Batman Forever? There’s a rumour you screen-tested for it... 
 
 I never screen-tested. I had a meeting with Joel Schumacher. It was just one meeting and, no, I didn’t end up doing it. 
 
 Did you actually want the role? 
 
 Er, I don’t think I did, no (laughs). As I recall I took the meeting, but didn’t want to play the role. Joel Schumacher is a very talented director but I don’t think I was ready for anything like that. 
 
 Do you feel like you dodged a bullet? 
 
 (Laughs.) 
 
 Were you in talks to play Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels? 
 
 I did have a meeting with George Lucas about that as well, yes. 
 
 What happened? 
 
 Same scenario (laughs). 
 
 He wanted you, but you didn’t fancy it? 
 
 Um, right. Exactly. 
 
 Why? 
 
 Again, just didn’t feel ready to take that dive. At that point. 
 
 How close did you come to playing Spider-Man before your friend Tobey Maguire took the part? 
 
 Er, that was another one of those situations, similar to Robin, where I didn’t feel ready to put on that suit yet. They got in touch with me. 
 
 Would you like to play a superhero? 
 
 You never know. You never know. They’re getting better and better as far as complex characters in these movies. I haven’t yet. But no, I don’t rule out anything. 
 
 Inception, by Chris Nolan, is pretty mindblowing. How highly do you rate Nolan? 
 
 Only one or two other filmmakers would be able to accomplish this film. It’s certainly not something you come across very often. And it really is all Chris Nolan. 
 
 Being honest, did you understand the script when you read it? 
 
 Well, it wasn’t that the script was incomprehensible. Here you have a man who’s part of a black-market organisation of dream-infiltration and is also haunted by his own subconscious nightmares that keep infiltrating his network and sabotaging the ideas.
– Leonardo DiCaprio almost played Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels, he revealed in a recent Shortlist interview. "I did have a meeting with George Lucas about that," he says, but he didn't want the role: "Just didn’t feel ready to take that dive. At that point." It's the same reason, he explains, that he met with Joel Schumacher about playing Robin in Batman Forever but didn't actually take the part. "As I recall, I took the meeting, but didn’t want to play the role," he says. "Joel Schumacher is a very talented director but I don’t think I was ready for anything like that." And the same thing happened again with Spider-Man, a role Tobey Maguire eventually took: "That was another one of those situations, similar to Robin, where I didn’t feel ready to put on that suit yet. They got in touch with me." In other revealing, Star Wars-related interviews, George Lucas let slip in a recent interview with Charlie Rose what he really thinks about the new movies, Business Insider reports. He sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012 partially because there were three more Star Wars movies he felt should be made, and "to do it right would be 10 years, and I said, 'I'm 70—I don't know whether I'll be here when I'm 80' ... and I want to do [other films], so I have to make the decision on my own that it's time for me to move on." He did have ideas for Episodes VII, VIII, and IX—but Disney "looked at the stories and they said, 'We want to make something for the fans.' I said, 'All I want to do is tell a story.' ... They decided they didn’t want to use those [my] stories, they decided they were going to do their own thing. They weren’t that keen to have me involved anyway." He also added, offhandedly, that he sold the franchise "to the white slavers." He's since apologized for that.