Mark Interviews 2000+

Mouthing Off - Revenge of the Jedi

Mark Hamill warms up his vocal cords to take on Hollywood with AMC's The Wrong Coast!

Mark, as executive producer and a voice actor on the show, you're the right guy to ask: What exactly is The Wrong Coast?

We're supposed to be the irreverent, satirical show on AMC. When I met with them, I pitched a lot of ideas, and one of them was this parody of Entertainment Tonight.

Are they going to let you guys get nasty?

I was hoping we could do a show that the family could watch together. Look, we can't out- South Park South Park. Also, there's a tendency now towards brute humor like, "You're fat, you're ugly, and your career's over." There's no wit there. My bottom line is being funny. But am I worried about offending celebrities and courting litigation? Gee, I hope we do! That would really put us on the map!

How'd you get into the voiceacting stuff?

I did a few things as a teenager, but I didn't get into it until 1992, when I did the Joker for the animated Batman series. That opened up a floodgate of new jobs. I had no idea. To this day one of my favorite parts ever is the Joker.

Would you ever be in a reality-TV show?

They asked me to do one, and I thought, "Are you kidding? It was a Big Brother-type thing. I asked who else was going to be in the house, and they said, "Carrot Top, Martha Stewart,..." I mean, would you rather do hard time in Sing Sing or get locked in a house with people like that?

What's your take on the STAR WARS legacy?

I try to remember the good things about it. You can tell there are kids out there who are genuinely entranced by it, but then there are the memorabilia dealers. They have no passion for the items; they just want to make money. I'm so sick of seeing my autograph with a certificate of authenticity that's completely bogus. Guys come up to me with stacks of 50 photographs. They say, "Don't put 'To Anyone' because I'm not sure who I'm going to give it to." Yeah, right, buddy. Should I just put "Best Wishes to eBay"?

Have the Prequels taken the heat off?

You'd think so. I was dying for them to come out. I said to George, "You didn't tell us we'd have to wait so long!" [laughs]

Honestly, what's your opinion of them?

I'm not a film critic. I wasn't even comfortable talking about the ones I was in! I feel completely detached from them. But the whole thing is such a part of pop culture - it's like I used to be in the Beatles, now I'm in Wings.

Maxim, January 2004