Mark Hamill Says ‘Star Wars’ Doesn’t Need Luke Skywalker Anymore: ‘I Just Don’t See Any Reason’ to Play Him Again
Mark Hamill’s days as Luke Skywalker are basically over. During an interview on CBS News’ “Sunday Morning,” the “Star Wars” icon said the franchise no longer needs the hero who helped make it a worldwide phenomenon.
“Well, you never say never, but I just don’t see any reason to,” Hamill said about reprising the role of Luke Skywalker. “Let me put it that way: I mean, they have so many stories to tell, they don’t need Luke anymore. I had my time, and that’s good. But that’s enough.”
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Hamill was the face of George Lucas’ original “Star Wars” trilogy alongside Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. He returned to the role decades later at the very end of 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” and he was a key character in 2017’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” That film ended with Luke’s death, but Hamill returned as a Force ghost in 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker” and then played a younger Luke via motion capture and de-aging visual effects in “The Mandalorian” and “The Book of Boba Fett.”
“When I read ‘The Last Jedi’s’ script, I said, ‘Ok, well, that’s it for me,'” Hamill recently told Esquire magazine. “And you start that process of disengaging from something that’s been a part of your life.”
Hamill came back for “The Mandalorian” because he “was very impressed with it,” but he admits that seeing the final result of his face being de-aged is “unusual.” Lucasfilm could theoretically keep making “Star Wars” projects featuring Luke with a de-aged Hamill, but the actor seems to be ruling that out.
“People say, ‘Oh, now you’re going to be able to do a whole series of Luke post-‘Return of the Jedi.’ I said, ‘I don’t think so,'” Hamill told Esquire. “First of all, they don’t need to tell those stories, but if they do, they could get an age-appropriate actor.”
Hamill is certainly right when he says “Star Wars” has “so many other stories to tell,” and the franchise is currently doing so in new television projects and films. The franchise will launch “Ahsoka,” “The Acolyte” and “Skeleton Crew” on Disney+, while new films include a Daisy Ridley-starring Rey sequel and a James Mangold-directed prequel about the first Jedi.
Even if Hamill’s decades-long tenure of playing Luke is over, he’ll forever be tied to the “Star Wars” franchise. Watch the actor’s full interview on CBS’ “Sunday Morning” in the video below.
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