Star Wars is one of the most iconic films ever made. It revolutionized cinema in a major way and also made star Mark Hamill a global superstar. However, none of that was apparently on the mind of Hamill’s future wife, Marilou York, when she saw Star Wars for the first time. She was more concerned with teeth.
In a recent appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Mark Hamill, whose new film, The Long Walk, is in theaters, discussed meeting his wife, to whom he has been married for nearly 50 years. She was his dental hygienist, and the actor explained that he invited her to an early screening of his new movie. Although he may not have been entirely accurate when describing to her. Hamill said…
A couple of weeks later, Star Wars was gonna be screened, and I said, ‘I did this movie. Do you wanna go see it?’ And she goes, ‘What’s it called?’ I said, ‘Star Wars.’ And she goes, ‘Uh, is it like Star Trek?’ And I went, ‘...Yeah, it’s exactly like Star Trek.’
It’s unclear whether being “exactly like Star Trek” was a selling point to York or not. To be fair, a lot of people probably went into a movie called Star Wars thinking it would be similar to Star Trek. Those people hopefully weren’t too disappointed by the reality.
Whatever she thought of the movie as a whole, York, being a dental hygienist, apparently tended to talk about teeth and focus on them at various points. Hamill said she cleaned the teeth of many famous people due to her location near Hollywood, and apparently, even when watching Star Wars, she was focused on teeth. Hamill continued…
Early on, there’s what we call the bad guys' boardroom meeting, where all the evil people are sitting around the table on the Death Star, and Vader comes in. And Richard LeParmentier, I think he gets Force-choked for saying this, but he says, ‘Lord Vader, your sorcerer’s ways have not revealed the location of the hidden rebel base.’ She doesn’t take her eyes off the screen, but she leans over to me and goes, ‘Bad caps.’
Bonus points to Mark Hamill, who remembered the name of character actor Richard LeParmentier, who played Admiral Motti, off the top of his head. To be fair, Motti is one of the better-remembered side characters in Star Wars entirely because of this scene.
I suppose one of the things about watching a movie on a big screen is that it means the teeth of the actors are much more visible. Of course, now I want to know Marilou York's ranking of the best teeth in Star Wars. We have lists of the best ships in Star Wars and the best characters in Star Wars. Where's the definitive listicle of the best teeth in Star Wars? Where does her husband rank?
I also have so many more questions about dental care in the galaxy far, far away than I ever considered having. Are there dentists in the Empire? What sort of tools do they have? Why does an important member of the Galactic Empire not have good caps on his teeth? He can surely afford it, right?
