The 71-year-old actor told CBS his wish to no longer play the hero of the saga whose features he has worn since 1977. In total, he played Luke Skywalker in six of the nine episodes of Star Wars and believes ” that there are other stories to tell” than that of Luke.
The first time he grabbed a lightsaber was in 1977, 46 years ago. It’s an icon of the saga Star Wars which now has nine episodes: Luke Skywalker, the Jedi Knight who seeks to mobilize that something called the Force to free the Republic from the clutches of the Empire and Darth Vader. This Luke Skywalker will probably no longer appear on the screen. In any case, not in the guise of its historical interpreter.
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Actor Mark Hamill, 71, no longer wants to play him and explained why to CBS: “On can never say never. But frankly, I see no reason to reprise the role, by which I mean there are a lot of other stories to tell. We don’t need Luke anymore, me anyway, I did my time, it was very good, and that’s enough.“
“I would never have imagined that I would be remembered”
Admittedly, this announcement will undoubtedly annoy the giants Disney and Lucas Films for whom the presence of Mark Hamill on a poster is the guarantee of millions of additional admissions, those, no longer of parents, but of grandparents of young spectators. But for him, as an actor, letting go of the hero of the saga is almost like liberation. Throughout his career, Mark Hamill tried to get rid of Luke Skywalker, to free himself from him, to embody something else, to wear other costumes, in vain.
Unlike Harrison Ford who played Han Solo, he found himself blocked by his character, devoured by him, by his notoriety, his stardom. For years, during castings, the directors only see him as Skywalker. He will get out of it in 1992 by becoming the voice-over of a very famous villain, the Joker in the animated series Batmanbefore accepting in 2015, to make another appearance in a Star Wars. It will therefore not be in the next episodes scheduled for 2025.
Since Sunday June 4, on social networks, many fans have expressed their sadness. However, there is nothing sad about all this, explains Hamill: “Deep down, I never imagined that I would be remembered for anything. I just wanted to make a living doing what I liked, which was playing, and it could have been so much worse! I could have been remembered as the guy who played…. I don’t know… Adolf Hitler for example, whereas Luke… Luke is a great guy.”