Star Wars franchise legend Mark Hamill has again addressed the possibility of making a return to the space opera universe. The actor responsible for playing Luke Skywalker for decades has talked about this in the past, saying his time as a Jedi is over. Now, Hamill has reaffirmed his message, and compared his Star Wars run to another very popular spy action franchise.
Recently, Hamill spoke to Variety during an episode of the Awards Circuit Podcast. The 74-year-old actor is currently going through a resurgence thanks to Mike Flanagan casting him in major projects The Life of Chuck and The Fall of the House of Usher. This year, Hamill also appeared in the Stephen King film The Long Walk. Nevertheless, Star Wars remains his most important contribution to cinema. When asked about possibly returning as Skywalker, Hamill candidly replied with the following:
“The way I feel is I had my time, and I love what they’re doing with The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. They asked me to do brief cameos when Luke was at the height of his powers.
“I told George it’s almost like if you did this for James Bond — Episode One, he’s a kid dreaming about the future and hearing about secret agents. In Episode Two, he trains to be a secret agent. In Episode Three, he earns his license to kill — and then you stop. No Dr. No, no From Russia With Love, no Goldfinger. Luke has a beginning and an end, but no middle. That’s just how it played out.”
I had my time. They’re doing great, and I wish them all the best.
On That ‘Empire Strikes Back’ Twist: “The Hardest Part Was Keeping That Secret for Over a Year and a Half”
When talking about his Star Wars legacy, Hamill was asked about any good stories about his time in the franchise. The first one that came to mind concerns the twist in the second film in the original trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back. In what’s widely deemed one of the best plot twists of all time, Luke Skywalker is fighting Darth Vader and accusing the Sith lord of killing his father when Vader reveals, while trying to save Luke from a deadly fall, that he’s actually his father. As Hamill recalled:
“Let me tell you a little story about that reveal in the script. The line was, ‘You don’t know the truth. Obi-Wan killed your father,’ and it was played exactly as you see it in the film: ‘No, that’s not true. That’s impossible. Search your feelings. You know it’s true.’ This is how we filmed it.
“Ironically, within two days, one of the stormtroopers would go down to the pub during lunchtime, and there’d be tabloid people offering five or ten pounds for any news. Irvin Kershner came to my dressing room and said, ‘I’m going to tell you something. I know it. George Lucas knows it, and when I tell you, you’ll know it. So if it leaks, we’ll know it’s you.’ And I said, ‘What is it?’ He said, ‘We’re going to take out the line ‘Obi-Wan killed your father’ and put in ‘I am your father.”
“The [Alec] Guinness thing was a pretty good twist. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to control leaks, but it was still stunning. The hardest part was keeping that secret for over a year and a half. At the first screening, Harrison [Ford] was sitting in front of me. He turned around and said, ‘You didn’t even tell me.’ I was too afraid. I didn’t leak it to anybody, and I didn’t tell my wife.”
- Birthname
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Mark Richard Hamill
- Birthdate
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September 25, 1951
- Birthplace
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Concord, California, USA