At 73, Mark Hamill Doesn’t Sweat the Small Stuff Anymore

What’s the best part about getting older? 

Well, your concern level drops. You don’t take everything so seriously, because it’s easier to put things in perspective. You appreciate moments more; the things that you took for granted early on, you might appreciate more. That’s something that is touched on in The Life of Chuck. Maybe that’s why I appreciated it so much.

And the worst thing?

Just the fact that you’re feeling your age, the aches and pains. I’m 73. I say that out loud — it’s shocking to hear, because I never expected it. I don’t remember thinking, How long do you think I’ll live? If you told me at 16 that I’d make it to 73, I would have been shocked, but the good news is it’s not nearly as bad as you imagine when you were a kid.

Maybe your long marriage helps — 46 years. What’s the secret?

Acceptance and listening. When something works, you don’t question it, you just accept it. She was my dental hygienist. I went in to get my teeth cleaned. And I was starstruck. I thought she was fabulous. I wanted to get to know her and date her. I wanted to see if she had a sense of humor, because I thought that’s crucial.

From your vantage point today, what would you tell your younger self?

Don’t sweat the small stuff. It’s hard to gain perspective, but I remember just really agonizing over wanting to be up for a certain movie and they didn’t want to see me, and years later you look back [and think], Why did I put myself through that big deal? Martin Sheen got [the part] and he was brilliant, as Martin Sheen [84] always is. [The movie was 1983’s The Dead Zone, another film based on a Stephen King book.] 

Hamill’s Luke Skywalker was just starting to get the hang of The Force in 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back.”

Courtesy Everett Collection

What did you hear when you didn’t get that part?

“Luke Skywalker’s not right for this.” Well, yeah, but that was a part. One of the reasons I went to Broadway was to try to do character roles. So I replaced in Elephant Man; I replaced in Amadeus. I did the first national tour of Amadeus. [I did] Harrigan ’N Hart, The Nerd, Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks and Room Service. It was only then, when I came back and auditioned and got the animated role of the Joker [appearing most notably in Batman: The Animated Series and the Arkham video games], that I really was accepted into the animation voiceover community. And I thought, Where has this been all my life?

You are huge in the animation world. What’s so great about that?

A character actor is defined by the fact that you see the character; the actor disappears. Animation does that for everybody. So no matter what part you play, they’re seeing the visual representation and just hearing you. They cast with their ears, not their eyes. So the range of characters I got to play that you’re not physically right for — a 6-foot-2 muscle-ripped Italian bodyguard — was stunning. And it’s not like doing eight [Broadway shows] a week, which is a real grind. You don’t have to memorize your lines. They’re right there on a music stand in front of you. They don’t care how you look. You can show up in Bermuda shorts and a T-shirt. When I was in the midst of all that, I thought, I’m home. I never have to be on camera again. The recognition is relatively inconsequential to me. I love the anonymity of voiceover. It’s wonderful.

Do people still recognize you as Luke Skywalker when you go out and about?

What happens is with the invention of selfies, people will look over and say, “Who’s that taking a selfie?” And they go, “Oh, it’s that guy from the space movies.” And they’ll want a selfie, too. And pretty soon you’re surrounded by people. And I always say yes, because it’s so simple to do it. But life was very different before the invention. I like to say I used to be a professional actor. Now I’m a professional selfie model!

You are also pretty witty on social media.

I always try and approach things with humor. I never rant and get angry and curse and so forth. I know there are kids who follow me. So I’m G-rated in that regard, but I always try and find humor in it. A lot of times I’ll read a tweet, and I read it as a setup. Sometimes I see things like, “Oh, I know the perfect punchline.” But I think you can move people and persuade people more with humor. And that’s what I try and do. So we have fun. Laugh at ourselves because we are a ridiculous species.

Do you have any regrets?

It’s impossible not to in retrospect, but like I mentioned earlier, the older you get, the more you — well, the crude way of saying, I have less Fs to give. But that’s not the way I look at it. It’s just that I realized it’s useless not to let go of things, because if you miss the bus there’ll always be another. And I appreciate things more. I didn’t expect to be so busy this year. If I have one project every nine months to a year, that’s fine.

In “The Life of Chuck,” Hamill plays Albie Krantz, who has a key role in raising the title character. Hamill says the movie, based on a Stephen King short story, is “an affirmation of life and the inherent goodness of human beings.”

Courtesy of NEON

You have had what, three projects in a year’s time, is that it?

Five. Already, this is my third. So it was The Wild Robot at the end of last year. Then The King of Kings, which had an amazing cast. It was Sir Kenneth Branagh [64], Sir Ben Kingsley [81], Forest Whitaker [63], Uma Thurman [55], Pierce Brosnan [72]. I was reminded of that old Neil Simon joke, “Oh my God, I’m the only one in this I’ve never heard of.” And now I have Life of Chuck; then comes The Long Walk, and at the end of the year I’m the SpongeBob nemesis. I love the name of the movie — The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants — because it makes it sound so important when it’s just a celebration of silliness. It’s goofiness as an art form, and I love that cast. These are all my voiceover buddies for decades, and they’re a really special bunch.

You must have your own best audience with your granddaughter, right?

Yes. Her name is Autumn. She’s 8. It’s my eldest son Nathan’s daughter. [In addition to Nathan, 45, Hamill has two other children: Griffin, 42, and Chelsea, 36.] Nathan was born in England when we were doing Empire Strikes Back. Seeing the world through Autumn’s eyes, it’s always a thrill.