Mark Interviews 1970+

Mark Hamill

Did you like the character of Luke?

Very much. Getting the part and making the film are memories I'll have forever. I admire Luke's sense of loyalty and adventure. I mean, I'm on a farm and I want to see what's over the horizon. "What am I missing out on?", basically. It's so brilliant of George Lucas, because I'm trying to figure out a way out of that humdrum, void kind of lifestyle and boom! I buy two robots and one of them has a hologram in him. It's a classic thing, and I'm thrilled at it.

Do you see yourself as Luke?

When I see the movie, I don't feel like it's really me. I see Luke Skywalker, and I'm embarrassed when he's naive. Like when Han Solo says, "Who's going to fly this thing, kid, you?", and I say, "You bet I could!" I find myself going, "Oh, don't be such a nerd!" But reacting like this is right in character, I guess.

Do you think other people like him?

Sure. The kids are going in and seeing a fantastic film, and by fantastic, I mean unworldly. They see Banthas. They see Jawas. They see Tusken Raiders. They see Darth Vader. There's just so much. And they see Luke. I think they feel comfortable with his character. He provides a nice balance, and fits in nicely with the others. I think George Lucas has created an ensemble that works together well.

What do you think of your co-stars, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher?

We're sort of like a family. Carrie is like my little sister, and I'm Harrison's little brother. Harrison is a serious actor, and a brilliant one. I'm surprised that he didn't get an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He was just riveting, I think. During the filming, I had such a crush on Carrie.

Did you really?

Oh, yeah, I really love her!

I think Carrie is swell.

She is. She's a wonderful girl, and I really fell in love with her. Not at first. At first I thought, "She's Debbie Reynold's daughter. She's a movie star's kid." I didn't give her a fair appraisal. Do I get the Princess in the next picture? Can I just hold hands with her?

You got a kiss in the last picture.

The Wookiee got a hug!

You got two kisses. One on the cheek, for luck, just before the swing, and one before you got into your X-Wing. And she hugged you when you got out of the X-Wing. You got two kisses and a hug in the last picture.

Whew! I guess I should count my blessings!

How did you get the part of Luke Skywalker?

A friend of mine named Robert Englund told me about the auditions. Robert's a wonderful actor. He shot Burt Reynolds and killed him at the end of Hustle. He punched out Kris Kristofferson in A Star is Born. And he shoved Charles Bronson down an elevator shaft in St. Ives.

He sounds like a really anti-social character.

He's a sweetheart, but his face gets him those kinds of parts. If I had that face, Robert Englund would be sitting here right now. That's how chancey that business is. Anyway, I heard from Robert that there was a picture George Lucas was doing called The Star Wars. At that time, it was called The Star Wars, instead of just Star Wars. Robert said he'd been out for it. Now, a lot of actors will tell you about parts only after they've definitely lost them. "I was up for this part, and it's still being cast." That sort of thing. Robert is not like that. He's like me, fatalistic. We're all going up for a part and someone's going to get it. So I asked him what it was like, and he said, "I don't know, I haven't seen the script. George Lucas and Brian De Palma are doing joint auditions. George is the little guy on the left who never talks." So I go, "Okay, I'll go out for it." I asked him if it was like 2001. Robert said that he thought it was probably like Flash Gordon. Now, I thought he was up for the part of Flash. He's older than me and blonde and all this, so I figured there was probably no part in it for me. But I like going to studios and watching them work, so I went out for it. I went in on one interview, didn't see a script, didn't do anything. I just talked about myself, "Hi, I'm Mark Hamill. I have four sisters and two brothers. I grew up in Virginia and New York and Japan." They said, "Thank you," and I went away. This was in November of '75. In February of '76, I tested. The way I found out about the test was an envelope arrived in the mail, and there were six pages of dialogue and a note saying to be there Tuesday to test. I had totally ruled the part out. I had thought George was unimpressed, and I went and tried out for Apocalypse Now. Fred Roos was the Casting Director, and he's very instinctive. I think he really helped me get the part. I think he pressured George to pick Carrie and Harrison and me. We were cast as an ensemble. There were two sets of three actors. We were never mixed and matched.

What do you have coming up in the future?

Well, I'm going on tour for three weeks to publicize my new picture, Corvette Summer. I really hope people will go out and see it, because I'm proud of it. The title makes it sound like one of those Drive-in, schlock-o movies, but it's not. It's a love story. A romantic character comedy about people, not cars. The studio changed the title, but as far as I'm concerned, you could call it The Dog's Breakfast and it would still be a good movie. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that people will go see it. After that, I'm going to Tokyo for the opening of STAR WARS at the end of June. Japan is the only country where STAR WARS hasn't opened yet. I, personally, think it's a very Japanese movie. Very Samurai.

Unquestionably. There are a lot of Samurai elements in it. The Force is very similar to a Samurai/Zen concept No Mind. You don't think, you just feel and act. Your practicing with the remote was like that.

And Darth Vader's costume, and his duel with Ben Kenobi are very Samurai. I'm really excited. The picture's going to be really big in Japan.

What comes after that?

After Japan, I'm going to Yugoslavia.

You signed to do The Big Red One?

I sure did. I read the script and I thought, "This is a good movie. This is a great World War II movie. I'd want to go see it." It's a great World War II movie - hit the beach and throw the hand grenade. And Sam Fuller, the picture's writer-director, is a man I respect. After STAR WARS I thought I should wait around for another good movie, so good it would equal STAR WARS, at least in intent. I've done a lot of television I'm embarrassed of, but that's because I was learning. I wanted to wait for another great picture, but I realized there is no Great American Novel waiting for me. I'm an actor and I should act. So I'm going to act in this movie. Not that I'm putting this movie down - I think it has great potential.

I've heard that it's pretty good.

The script is terrific.

After Yugoslavia, The Big Red One moves to Israel for filming, doesn't it?

Right.

I'm not sure I'd want to film battle scenes in Israel at the moment.

That's exactly what I was going to say. That is kind of scary. I would hope, and I imagine that if they have invested so much money and time that they wouldn't let their actors get killed.

I heard a report on the news recently, about you and a little boy in the hospital.

I heard about that much the same way you did. Let me tell you the whole story from my point of view. I got a phone call from my manager who said, "There's a young boy in the hospital, paralyzed with spinal meningitis. The first time he's moved in a long time was when he heard a television commercial for a STAR WARS related toy coming from the television set mounted in his hospital room. His father called Twentieth Century Fox, and Fox called me. "Do you want to call him?" I said, "Of course!" So my manager gave me the number and set up a time for me to call when the boy would be near a phone. Normally, I don't say I'm Luke Skywalker. I try to keep my identity separate from that of the film character, but in this case, I made an exception. I called, and the boy answered, "Hello." And I said, "Hi! It's Luke Skywalker. How are you? What are you doing? Are you in the hospital? I heard you were sick." It wasn't, "Oh, gosh, you're never going to walk again." It wasn't down. It was like, "Hey, what are you doing in the hospital? We need you. The Rebel Alliance needs you, we have to beat the Empire." He said, "Luke? Where are you?" And I said, "I'm here in your galaxy for just a little bit. We just stopped off to regroup our forces." He got so thrilled and excited, he went, "I knew it was you. I knew it was you." He just went crazy. Then I said, "I have to go. Han is not going to stay around too long, and Chewie is real crabby today." So then the boy said, "He is? Why?" I told him, "Well, I don't know. He fell asleep last night before he got fed, and he's angry at Han." It was like he was right there, in the galaxy far, far away. I never talked differently from that, and I never broke the mood. I said, "If I'm back in your galaxy, I'd love to take you to see the movie." And he said, "Okay, bye Luke," and then he hung up. I called him and I hung up, and that was the end of it, as far as I was concerned. I was just trying to do something nice. It wasn't a big publicity stunt or anything. But the boy's making amazing progress, so it got on the news. It apparently gave the boy new hope. He believed in it enough that it helped him. The doctors said that any kind of positive reinforcement like that is good. I called again last Wednesday, but he wasn't available. The hospital said I should call him on Sunday. I want to tell him that, "I want to take you to a movie. I'm going to be out of the galaxy for three months." What I'm telling him is that it's going to be his Christmas present this Christmas.

That's great!

I think so. What small thing can I give? Nine hundred technicians made me look like a hero and now I can use that. I can't make a glass rise up off of that table, but at least I can help this boy.

That's terrific. By the way, I've got this pain in my back. I was hoping you could make it go away...

Bantha Tracks Vol.1 Issue 3, July 1978