Mark Hamill thought he was going to be ‘sidekick’ role in Star Wars

Mark Hamill says he hopes he can retire from Star Wars

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Renowned actor Mark Hamill celebrates his 71st birthday on September 25, 45 years after he received the role of a lifetime. The actor had only been in one film before auditioning for Star Wars and thought he would be playing Harrison Ford’s sidekick. 

Hamill claimed he wasn’t sure if he was “ready for this” as he sat down to review his first test screen for George Lucas, and the film series that would change his life. 

After majoring in drama at Los Angeles City College, Hamill started his career with a few guest appearances on sitcoms and television films, as well as a recurring role on the soap opera General Hospital. 

Then, in the mid-Seventies, Hamill was told by his roommate, Freddy Krueger actor Robert Englund, that there was a role he believed Hamill was perfect for. 

As Englund humorously noted on the Inside of You podcast: “My once upon a time in Hollywood story is that Freddy Krueger told Luke Skywalker to call his agent and he got the part.”

His agent reportedly had already set up an audition for the role of Luke Skywalker, seemingly indicating that no matter what happened, Hamill would be auditioning for Star Wars. 

In a 2019 video partnering with Omaze, Hamill sat down and reacted to his first screen test for the role which was a scene involving him and Harrison Ford, then reportedly already cast as Han Solo. 

The cynic tried to bury his head in his hands before the clip even started, groaning: “I’m not sure I’m ready for this.”

Ford was already an established actor, with his role in American Graffiti garnering him critical acclaim years earlier.

Hamill explained that the screen test was the first time he met Ford, who was “one of my favourite people” and “the personification of cool”. 

Cynically, he claimed: “He WAS Han Solo. He’s better in the screen test than I am and he’s off camera so that should give you some idea.”

Because of Ford’s reputation, and perhaps some general misunderstanding of the screen test script, Hamill believed he was auditioning to play second-fiddle to Ford’s hero. 

He said: “Harrison was a bona fide leading man so I thought he was Captain America and I was Bucky. 

“So when I eventually got the script, I opened the front page and it said: The Star Wars: The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the Saga of the Whills, I realised oh my gosh, it’s through my eyes!”

A week after this revelation, Hamill received the news that he would be taking the lead, which he just “couldn’t believe”.

Hamill had his iconic hairdo long before the Skywalker role became available, and while certainly fashionable in that era, the actor evidently reflected on his style choices with some regret: “Look at that haircut. 

“That’s the biggest thing I contributed to the look of Skywalker, that Beatle-esque haircut.”

As the clip continued, Hamill’s face pulled in disgust as he realised he called Ford “Hans” instead of pronouncing it “Hann”.

The actor explained that people on set would ask director George Lucas how to pronounce some of the more difficult names like Han or Chewbacca, but he “didn’t really care”. 

Hamill claimed: “He said: ‘Well just say it the way you want to say it and it’ll be regional’.”

While Hamill had gone through the casting process as any other actor would, his counterpart Ford had accidentally auditioned for his role as Han Solo. 

Lucas reportedly wanted to work with actors he had never met before, starting the film on a fresh slate. 

This was rather unfortunate for Ford as the pair had worked incredibly well together on the set of American Graffiti in 1973. 

Although he wasn’t allowed to audition himself, Lucas did ask Ford for his assistance to read through the character’s lines while others auditioned. 

In doing this, Ford accidentally proved himself to Lucas as the best choice for Han Solo and the director made an exception to his fresh slate decision.

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