The whole world is gearing up for Mark Hamill’s return in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but he’s not afraid to admit that starring in the renewed films scared him, writes The New York Times.
Since 1977, when the franchise entered theaters and changed fandom forever, Hamill has been synonymous with the Jedi hero, Luke Skywalker. The Star Wars movies brought him fame, fortune, and friendship, but Hamill, 66, was worried that his character or his acting would fall flat in the latest episodes.
Hamill moved to Los Angeles in 1969, and landed early roles on General Hospital and The Partridge Family. He then was chosen from a pool of young actors to play Luke Skywalker because he “brought a measure of humanity to a film full of space vehicle and special effects,” film creator George Lucas told the Times. “I needed a protagonist who was comfortable treating these things both casually and seriously in order to give that world an air of authenticity.” Lucas also said that Hamill brought a “boyish enthusiasm” that made the character more accessible and relatable to the audience.
Hamill looks back on those days, starring alongside Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, and said that they “were like a very small tribe in the wilderness. We really were figuring this out as we went along.”
After the last movie in the initial trilogy hit theaters in 1983, Hamill assumed the franchise was over, and moved on to performing on Broadway and in cult films and TV shows. But in 2012, when Lucas said their characters would be in the new films. Hamill was disappointed at first that his character wouldn’t have a big role. But he said he was even more worried that his big reveal at the end of The Force Awakens would fall flat.
Hamill said that he is remorseful that Fisher, who unexpectedly died in December, will not get to complete this latest trilogy of Star Wars films. “She deserved that second act,” he told the Times. “Harrison was more prominent in VII, I’m more prominent in this one, and she was meant to be more prominent in the last one. Her timing was perfect, except in this case.”
As for his colleagues, some believe that there is something fitting about the fact that Hamill is the only lead actor from the original films presently involved in the franchise. “He’s the last man standing,” Ford, whose character Han Solo died in The Force Awakens, said to the Times.
Read the full interview with Mark Hamill at the link below.
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