The actor who played Chewbacca, Peter Mayhew, had double knee-replacement surgery on Monday in Texas.
The 7'3" actor is hoping the knee surgery will let him walk again after he's been using a wheelchair the last couple of years, People reports.
Using Mayhew's Twitter, his family said, "We have made him bigger, stronger & faster; now if we can just get him out of bed! Taking it slow and steady."
"I see a wookiee roaring in the future!," his family added.
The 69-year-old actor played Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy as well as in the last prequel film Revenge of the Sith.
George Lucas once said of the tall actor, "After talking with him, I knew I'd found Chewbacca. He was perfect."
After the Star Wars films, Mayhew went on to making furniture.
According to MSN Now, the British actor is the subject of a documentary Walking in the Stars - the Peter Mayhew Story, which was funded through Kickstarter.
image: Wikimedia Commons
