Mark Hamill is one of the good celebrities. He’s avoided scandal and has always put his money where his mouth is. He’s also been a very outspoken advocate for Democrats and doesn’t GAF when it comes to alienating the snowflake Star Wars fanboys. Oh, and Mark was one of the few Hollywood stars to have Joe Biden’s back in his re-election campaign, calling him Joe-bi-Wan Kenobi last May.
Mark is promoting two Stephen King adaptations that he’s staring in, The Life of Chuck and The Long Walk. As such, he just sat down for a long profile with The Sunday Times, where he chatted about his upbringing, leaning into his very distinctive type of fame, and, of course, his view on politics. It’s a really good interview and if you’re a Hamill fan, I recommend you check out the full piece. Here are some highlights.
Carrie Fisher told him to get over himself: When he tried to audition for the title role in the film adaptation of Amadeus, having played the part successfully on stage, its director, Milos Forman, told him bluntly: “Oh no no, the Luke Skywalker is not to be being the Mozart.” … Like an ageing rock star still forced to play the hits from his debut album, Hamill remains trapped in a pop cultural moment of almost half a century ago. For a while in the 1990s he tried to downplay Star Wars in his Broadway credits — after a long list of theatre credits, his biography concluded with, “He’s also known for a series of popular space movies.” It took Carrie Fisher, lifelong friend and burster of bubbles, to put him straight — “Get over yourself,” he recently revealed she had told him. “You’re Luke Skywalker. I’m Princess Leia. Embrace it.”
He’s not in it for the awards: Instead, Hamill claims, he is satisfied with life as “a working stiff … As a kid I’d see these character actors on The Twilight Zone and The Dick Van Dyke Show and I filed that away. ‘I love that guy. He’s always good. He shows up all the time in all these different things. What’s his name?’ It’s me!”
The Long Walk’s unexpected timeliness: What was written as an allegory for Vietnam now becomes an allegory for modern America, something that Hamill, a lifelong and ardent Democrat, has long despaired of. “A few weeks ago ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents were pulling people out of their cars,” he says, pointing down the hill to LA, which has become a frontline city in President Trump’s clampdown on undocumented immigrants. “They wore masks and had no identification to show they were law enforcement. They were just brutalising people, kneeling on their necks. When I made the movie I wasn’t thinking in terms of it being timely but it’s proven to be just that.”
On the current US political landscape: “The bullying, the incompetence, the people in place… The only way I can deal with it without going crazy and wanting to open my veins in a warm tub is to look at it like a thick, sprawling political novel. It’s entertaining in a way because this could actually be the end. Our status in the world has been crippled and that will reverberate for decades. Making Canada a 51st state? Do you know how offensive that is? And then taking over Greenland and renaming the Gulf of Mexico. The distractions are hilarious.”
He still believes in the light side of the force: “I still believe there are more honest, decent people than there are the Maga crowd. If I didn’t, I’d move back to England.”
Why he’s not leaving the country: He could do an Ellen DeGeneres, I suggest, and try the Cotswolds. He nods and says that when Trump was re-elected, he gave his wife a choice: London or Ireland. “She’s very clever,” he says. “She didn’t respond right away but a week later she said, ‘I’m surprised you would allow him to force you out of your own country.’ That son of a bitch, I thought. I’m not leaving.”
”I still believe there are more honest, decent people than there are MAGA.” I had to re-read this quote several times before I could decide whether or not I agreed with it. I want to agree with it. I was pretty devastated after the election and disgusted by the fact that 77+ million people voted for Orange Voldemort. I still am. It wasn’t until the “Hands Off” and “No Kings” protests that I was reminded that there are still so many decent people among us. I live near a Tesla dealership, and there are *still* people who protest outside of it every Friday afternoon. The recent headlines about red states gerrymandering in order to win congressional elections are infuriating, but serve as a reminder that Republicans can’t win without cheating. Do all of these things make our current state of affairs easier to swallow? Hell no. But, it does remind me that there are so many decent people out there who care. It’s just difficult when the worst voices are the loudest ones.
Anyway, I am not surprised that Carrie Fisher was the person to take Mark aside and tell him to get over himself and embrace his place in the entertainment zeitgeist. Man, I miss her so much. I know she’d be on the front lines protesting what the current admin is doing, too. My head-canon has decided that Carrie, Mark, and Harrison Ford would have teamed up to do a pro-Kamala Harris ad for the last election. Anyway, over the years, I have really come to appreciate how smart and decent Mark comes across in interviews and over social media. They say never meet your heroes, but Mark is absolutely one that I’d love to meet one day.
Photos credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon, Judy Eddy/Wenn/Avalon, Jeffrey Mayer/Avalon, Getty and via Instagram
I don’t for a minute believe 77 million voted for him. He cheated and musk helped him. So I do believe there are more honest people than maga.
AMEN!! You are 100 percent CORRECT!! OLE’ Don BALD had a feminine hissy fit when Kamala’s popularity BOOMED when Biden dropped out of the race(I Love Biden,it was his decision to drop out but I didn’t LIKE how some ppl stabbed him in the Back! CLASSY MAN!!) Anyway she MADE in 3 months what it took Donnie BOI 4 years to MAKE in campaign MONEY! Musk PAID people to VOTE for tRUMP and that conservative judge allowed it!! It was rigged because EVERYONE KNOWS MAGAts cult can’t win WITHOUT cheating!! Trump didn’t win BIG either when he cheated – He lied!! As many people didn’t vote than voted for Donald, 34.9 didn’t vote,33.4 voted Orange menace & 32.8 Kamala!!! WE will make SURE MAGA doesn’t cheat during the midterms & in 2028- It will be counted 100 times if need be!! Kamala shouldn’t of conceided so quickly She should of held off for 2 days AND MADE Everyone check all the poles and numbers diligently & she may of found The 2 Greedy OLE Bastard’s Grift with the computers & THEY rigged the SWING states votes,it WAS obvious!!! It’s OVER for now, BUT us GOOD people will WIN the WAR and SAVE Democracy!! VOTE BLUE Always 💙💙☮️🏳️🌈✝️🙏🌈💙🗽XO
MAGA is a cult. The more I view it in that framework, as someone raised in a cult (IBLP) the easier it is to understand. There are often very good people in cults who are persuaded to do bad things because the pressure of the cult convinces them the bad thing is morally good
Mark Hamill is such a breath of fresh air. So grounded and never full of himself. And he’s right about more decent people than not. Our job….no, our mission, is to find them all and get them out to vote! And not allow MAGA to cheat, obviously.
I’d like to believe him but it’s hard when you live in a deep red maga area. I do get the cult part of it but at this point I’m so mad that it’s hard to feel sympathy. I do have some I guess. I don’t want to be like them but I want them to be better. It’s one thing when you’re in an isolated cult only hurting yourselves. But this is hurting everybody.
I feel you but it’s not just red states. Four years ago, we moved to a little seaside town right outside of deep-blue Boston after 20 years of living in the city and it’s been a culture shock. I could go on and on but the TLDR is that most of the people that live here are just awful. Prob the easiest way to explain the difference is moving from a city that went 77%- 20% Harris to a town that went 55%-42% Harris.
And obviously I know it’s not the same as being in a red area that maybe went 70%-30% Trump or whatever but it made me really empathize with folks in your situation. Ultimately I don’t regret getting a house when/where we did but it’s crazy how much more hostile and depressing the general vibe is here.
It wears on ya.
Oh yeah, I don’t think it has to be a red state. Just a reddish or deep red area is enough even if you’re just an hour or two away from a blue area.
There are soo many of us who are not Maga, granted I live in a blue state. Biden won with 81 million votes in 2020 and we haven’t all died yet.
Mark Hamill is one of the kindest, friendliest people on social media. He talks to everyone! He’s sharp and he is funny.
We watched Life of Chuck for the third time last night. We catch something new each time and we still have questions. It’s a lovely, well-acted film with layers of meaning.
Mark was promoting Life of Chuck yesterday on the UK One Show and clearly referenced Trump making the importance of hope and joy even more precious .We are going to see this film next week because I have read the Stephen King stories and now I have to see THAT dance!
There are several dances. It is a lovely film. Benjamin Pajak is a delight as young Chuck and Mia Sara just glows.
Mark has done so well for himself as an actor and as a human being! Especially considering how he was thrust into the limelight, he is very well balanced.
💗
I’d like to believe him. I also think that it’s possibly an easier thing to believe when you’re wealthy, white, male — and beloved for your work. Meaning that he might not be directly exposed to the worst of people at their most vicious moments.
I just learned that in DC, US Marshals are offering $500 for tips that lead to an arrest. Since they don’t seem to be too picky about establishing probable cause, that seems like an easy way to make bank, since the tips likely become the “probable cause” needed to make the arrests. These people are very much the faces of evil.
I’m wondering if I should start carrying my passport card. I’m also wondering if it will even matter. A piece of paper can so easily be destroyed.
Tend to agree with your first sentence.
The cash for tips incentive is horrifying and reminds me a bit of what they did with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, where they dug up a “key witness” who accused Abrego Garcia of human trafficking after he was originally denied due process. They just need a *reason* to arrest or detain someone, it does not have to be credible.
Mind you this “key witness” was CONVICTED (not merely accused) of smuggling migrants and illegally reentering the United States after having been deported. This ACTUAL criminal was spared another deportation because he’s useful to the Trump administration in proving a baseless case against Abrego Garcia.
It’s going to get very, very bad in DC with other blue cities to follow.
I carry photos of my naturalization certificate and my passport on my phone. As a white woman I don’t necessarily expect to be targeted but who knows?
My husband and daughter are Mayflower descendants, I’ve lived here since I was 12, my parents were legal immigrants and I’m an American Citizen but still I don’t feel safe.
Love Mark and love his positivity. Still, I’m not sure I agree. This is why protesting is so therapeutic, though–it always feels good to be in the presence of hundreds of thousands of Americans who are horrified by what’s happening.
Back in the day,I had a crush on Mark Hamill. Also on George Takei. Now I admire these two even more because of their outspoken adherence to what’s right and sane–and I’m glad George found love, even if it was never going to be me 😉