Mark Hamill, the originator of iconic Star Wars character Luke Skywalker, has recalled the time his late co-star Carrie Fisher scolded him for leaving his breakthrough role out of his Broadway biography.
Hamill, 73, starred as the Jedi protagonist in the original Star Wars trilogy, alongside Fisher as Princess Leia.
In 1981, between the release of the second and third movies in the series, Hamill made his Broadway debut as the lead role in The Elephant Man. He later returned to the Broadway stage in four other productions: Amadeus, Harrigan 'n Hart, The Nerd, and Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks.
During Tuesday’s episode of NPR’s Fresh Air podcast, the prolific actor recalled Fisher attending one of his shows.
“And in the playbill, in my bio, I listed all my theater credits and at the end it said, ‘He’s also known for a series of popular space movies,’” Hamill remembered.
“And she goes, ‘What’s the deal? How come you don’t mention Star Wars?’ And I said, ‘Well, I want to show that I have a resume that includes extensive theater credits.’ And she said, ‘Hey, get over yourself. You’re Luke Skywalker. I’m Princess Leia. Embrace it.’”
He admitted that he “kind of saw what she meant, you know, because you say to yourself, ‘What territory do I occupy that no one else does?’ So she was someone that sort of put it in perspective for me.”
Hamill and Fisher, co-led the original three movies — Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983) — alongside Harrison Ford as Han Solo.
Hamill has gone on to reprise his role in all three films of the sequel trilogy: The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi (2017), and The Rise of Skywalker (2019), as well as in numerous spinoff TV shows, including The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian.
Meanwhile, Fisher — who died at 60 in 2016, days after suffering an in-flight cardiac attack — appeared posthumously in both The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. Before she died, she had filmed scenes for the former that were featured, while the latter used previously unseen footage and CGI to superimpose her face onto a body double.
Before filming the final entry in the sequel trilogy, Hamill reflected on what it would be like returning to set without his co-star.
“It’s bittersweet facing my final chapter without her — she is simply irreplaceable. I’m finding solace in the fact that she won’t BE replaced & would love the worldwide outpouring of affection from those who loved her when they heard the news,” the actor wrote on X at the time, adding the hashtag #CarrieOnForever.
