The ‘Star Wars’ comments Mark Hamill was forced to apologise for: “I regret voicing my doubts in public”
Never one to bite the hand that feeds, Mark Hamill knows better than anyone that he owes his entire career to Star Wars and Luke Skywalker, even if he’s never been the one steering the creative direction of his legendary character.
Many actors have massive input into their signature roles, such as Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man, Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow, and Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones. However, Hamill has always been at the service of the screenplays being written for whatever Star Wars project he’s lending his name to.
After J.J. Abrams’s The Force Awakens became the first movie in history that James Cameron didn’t direct to clear $2billion at the box office, it appeared at first glance the Disney era of a galaxy far, far away, was off to an incredible start. The final scene teasing Hamill’s return as Luke was a salivating way to sign off, but nobody could have predicted at the time the sequel would split opinion right down the middle.
Even mentioning Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi within close proximity to a Star Wars fan is guaranteed to generate a reaction in one way or another, something that also applies to the stars themselves. Many praised the filmmaker for subverting the established mythology and trying something new, daring, and different, while others were aghast that things had been steered in such a wildly different direction.
One of the premiere bones of contention was the characterisation of Luke, who returned to screens as a bitter, isolated veteran who’d turned his back on the very things that made him who he was in the original trilogy. It was a drastic departure and one that Hamill was openly and vocally displeased with.
Hamill even literally told Johnson, “I hate what you’ve done with my character.”
In an effort to get to grips with Luke’s reinvention, the actor decided to treat him as a completely different person. “Maybe he’s Jake Skywalker,” he mused. “He’s not my Luke Skywalker.” It was a sentiment shared by many, but having never been one to openly denigrate a fellow professional, he felt compelled to apologise when his barbs only served to pour more fuel on the controversial fire of The Last Jedi.
Whereas he’d been happy to admit “we had a fundamental difference” over Luke’s arc previously, Hamill backtracked to the point where he apologised for his comments. “I regret voicing my doubts and insecurities in public,” he offered before acknowledging how “creative differences are a common element of any project but usually remain private”. The damage was done, though, with the anti-Last Jedi crowd hopping on Hamill’s initial distaste and using it as a stick to beat the polarising sci-fi over the head with.
Watch a clip from the The Last Jedi below.
