Mark Hamill

{Unknown, 1980}

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As the heroic Luke Skywalker, Mark is called a galactic Mr. Clean but admits, "I'd love to play a bad guy."

Any STAR WARS fan who sees The Empire Strikes Back will see that the character Luke Skywalker has matured since the original movie. "I played STAR WARS as young as possible, even to the point of making my voice go up at the end of the lines, like a child's would. Empire is told more from an adolescent's point of view," explains Mark Hamill, reprising in Empire the role he created in STAR WARS four years ago.

But there's more to it than that: Mark Hamill himself has matured a lot in those four years. "I've always identified a lot with Luke Skywalker," Mark says. "Nobody could go through the experiences I've gone through without maturing more rapidly than people who lead less eventful lives," said the 28-year-old actor, who has been called a galactic Mr. Clean.

The more mature Luke Skywalker of Empire is still a long way from the part Mark is anxious to play. "I'd love to play the bad guy," he says, with a menacing tone that almost makes you believe he could pull it off. There has been speculation that the next segment of the STAR WARS saga (Revenge of the Jedi, scheduled for release in 1983) will carry Luke further into the dark side of The Force. "The most interesting prediction came from a German journalist, who said (Mark breaks into a German accent), 'In the next film Luke will be the major villain, and the conflict will be whether Han Solo and Darth Vader can indeed kill Luke.' I haven't seen the script," Mark continues, back in his regular voice, "but I thought that would be a real twist.".

"I'm excited about it. I can't wait for this story to be told."

The filming of Empire held few surprises for Mark, although there were some big ones for the rest of the cast. "Not until it came time to shoot the climactic scene in which Darth Vader reveals his identity to Luke Skywalker did David Prowse, Darth Vader himself, know of the surprising climax. Harrison (Ford) and I saw the film for the first time together and he leaned over to me and said (Mark does a perfect imitation of Harrison's low, slow speech), 'I didn't know that, kid. I only read my part.'"

Mark knew, of course. "I had to know in order to react in the proper way," he explained. "I memorized everything they put in the script, then transposed it to what was really going to be. I felt that the emotional impact the revelation at the end of the picture had on me would serve as a climax."

Empire did hold at least one surprise for Mark. "It never really hit me until I saw the finished movie how much of a cliffhanger it really is, mostly because it's such a stalemate between Vader and myself," Mark says, echoing the comments of many STAR WARS fans seeing Empire for the first time.

The relationship between Darth Vader and Luke has become one of the most talked-about aspects of the film. "There was a little boy in tears at the screening in London because he just couldn't accept it. He kept screaming, 'Darth Vader is lying; I know he's lying.'"

That remains to be seen. Audiences can be sure that the outcome will be seen. Movies as popular and lucrative as STAR WARS and The Empire Strikes Back nearly always give birth to sequels.

"When I read the STAR WARS script, I thought, 'Boy, if they can pull off the special effects, we're on a winner here. This thing will be as popular as Planet of the Apes.'" (Planet of the Apes set box-office records in 1968 and spawned four sequels.)

Perhaps he underestimated - but so did everyone else. George Lucas, who came up with the idea in the first place, had a hard time persuading Twentieth Century Fox to spend so much money on STAR WARS' special effects. Following the unprecedented success of his film, he produced Empire as an independent. It's a self-financed, inhouse Lucasfilm production.

"I can't wait to see the next script," Mark says. "STAR WARS was made for nine-year-olds. The Empire Strikes Back is adolescent in its fascination with reptiles and in the sense that Darth Vader is more than just a clear-cut bad guy. It's like growing up and finding that your parents lied to you when you discover that Obi-Wan Kenobi, for whatever reason, lied --- or at least held something back."

Mark may be a little worried about being type-cast, but only a little. He's learned to accept being the star of the most successful film in screen history (and now, its most promising sequel) as a mixed blessing. While Lucas hasn't exactly asked him to stay in character until after The Revenge of the Jedi, Mark says he has a pretty good idea what would happen if he phoned Lucas with the news he was going to do a show like Bent (Richard Gere's recent Broadway success, a homosexual love story set in a Nazi concentration camp). "I'd hear a clunk on the other end."

"I think what Richard Gere did is so brave. I really admire that," Mark says. He readily admits, though, that such a controversial part is not for him. Not now, at least.

Mark's next role as Griff in The Big Red One was released this summer, and temporarily sets him outside of the Luke Skywalker character. Griff comes face to face with the basic paradox of war: when is killing not murder? As a teenager fighting in World War II, Griff cannot separate the two, and he finds it impossible to kill an enemy soldier if he can see his face.

The Big Red One, co-starring Lee Marvin, "has been one of the most challenging assignments of my career," Mark says. "To get genuine reactions from us during battle scenes, Sam Fuller, the director, would often surprise us by firing off a round of ammunition from one of the two pistols he carried."

Since filming was done on location in Israel and Ireland, it was sometimes difficult for Mark to separate the film from reality. "It's hard to forget the movie war when you return to your hotel at night and your doorman is carrying a machine gun," he said.

"Being Luke Skywalker places upon me the responsibility to live a good life, because so many young people identify with the character," Mark says.

And being Luke Skywalker places him in the awkward position of being too big a star for some good parts. He almost didn't do Corvette Summer (his first film after STAR WARS) for that reason, and Twentieth Century Fox said they wanted an unknown for the lead in Breaking Away, a part Mark says he would have enjoyed playing.

How did it all happen? A native Californian, Mark had been interested in show business since junior high school. It was not until 1970, however, when he was 18, that Mark got his first professional acting job, a TV appearance on The Bill Cosby Show.

After that, his career started moving. "I got a lot of television work, doing guest things on a lot of shows." Actually, he has more than 140 television circuits, including nine months on the daytime series General Hospital and five television movies.

"I've been on TV shows I'd never turn on at home," Mark confides, "yet probably the most satisfying thing I did was a TV series for Mary Tyler Moore productions called The Texas Wheelers. We made 13 episodes and it was canceled after the fourth week." That was the year everything on ABC was canceled but The Six Million Dollar Man.

Mark is also proud of his work in the Hallmark Hall of Fame production Eric, starring John Savage and Patricia Neal. "I played John's brother, but was cut out of it almost completely. The one scene of mine that did survive was a terrifically emotional one where I confront John about why he didn't tell me he was dying. It was a great scene to play."

Then one day, Mark's agent called to tell him he was going out for a double audition. Brian de Palma was interviewing for Carrie, and George Lucas for STAR WARS. "I went, and Brian did all the talking. George never said a word," Mark said. "I made it past the initial cut for Carrie, but didn't get the part."

"Three months later I got six pages in the mail - STAR WARS. I read the scene and went in and did a videotaped test with Harrison. We had a card table as the cockpit of the Millenium Falcon. I read this thing, and I'm telling you I couldn't figure out what the hell it was. George Lucas wouldn't tell you whether he was going to do an homage to the Saturday matinees or what. I thought maybe it was a kind of parody, like Batman."

"There was a line in the screen test that was eventually rewritten and didn't appear in the movie, but when I read it I thought, 'Oh, who talks like this?' It read like maybe I'd gone back in a time machine and it was 1930. The only lucky thing I did was not commenting on the material in my acting."
Two years later, Mark saw the finished product, STAR WARS. "The first time I saw it, I said to myself, 'That's not me.' It wasn't until the second or third time that I could accept the fact it was me."

Life after STAR WARS was eventful. There was an extensive promotional tour for the film, a lot of fan mail, a car accident that resulted in a broken nose and extensive plastic surgery of the face, three more movies, and --- oh, yes --- a wife and son.

He met his wife, Marilou, while having his teeth cleaned: she was a "dental hygienist to the stars." (On the set of a Bob Hope special, Olivia Newton-John once mentioned to Mark that his wife cleaned her teeth.) Marilou quit working when Nathan Elias was born, about a year ago. Mark's family travels with him everywhere --- in fact, the baby was born in England, during the filming of Empire.

"My grandfather's name was Luther Nathan, and Nathaniel Hawthorne is my favorite author, so Nathan seemed like an unpretentious name that's not too popular right now," Mark explains. He is aware that his son will have a father who is looked upon virtually as a superhero. "It's a real challenge for me. I'd like Nathan to enjoy it and know that it's make believe."

In the meantime, Nathan is far less concerned with the Force and lightsabers than he is with his favorite game, picking up the Cheerios Daddy drops on the rug.