The Force was with Mark Hamill as he received his star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame on Thursday.
The “Star Wars” actor was honoured with the 2630th star, located in front of the restored 1920’s El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. Hamill’s longtime friends, director George Lucas and Harrison Ford, were on hand to induct the actor in front of the massive crowd.
“Mark Hamill is a character that can’t be written,” Lucas says during the induction ceremony. “He’s very enthusiastic about everything. That’s exactly what I was looking for when I was looking for Luke Skywalker. I was looking for somebody who had grown up on a farm in the middle of nowhere, very naive about what was going on in the world, young, but enthusiastic. He proved to wear his mettle well.”
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Hamill’s “Star Wars” co-star Ford says he prepared himself for the event by going back and re-watching his original screen test with the actor. “He had just the right blend of youthfulness and enthusiasm,” Ford says. But it was the loss of Carrie Fisher that led him to reflect on a bittersweet moment amid the celebration.
“When thinking about today, I was really sad that we didn’t have the other member of our trio here to celebrate with us,” he says, referencing the late Fisher. “But I feel her presence.”
Ford continued, “He has been the master of his own experience, his own life and he is as he always was – a quiet, sincere, honest person. He’s not a grandstander and I think he has found comfort and utility and control of his destiny,” he says, adding, “I’m happy for you pal.”
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Hamill thanked his family for being his first “captive audience” and putting up with his impressions, but it’s the fans he truly appreciates.
“You are with me through thick and thin, and the highs and the lows, and everywhere in between. If it weren’t for the public, I’d be nowhere,” he says to cheers from the gathered crowd. “From Jedi to Joker and back again, it’s been a fantastic ride. Thank you so much and may the Force be with each and every one of you.”
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” co-stars Kelly Marie Tran and Fisher’s daughter, Billie Lourd, were also on hand for the Hollywood Walk Of Fame Ceremony.
Ahead of the Thursday ceremony, Hamill tweeted: “Can’t say this is a dream come true because I was never foolish enough to think something like this could ever happen. When part of me doubts I deserve such an honour, I remind myself that someone got a ‘star’ for just one crappy reality show. #BeyondGr8ful.”
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Before landing his first feature film role as Luke Skywalker in “Star Wars” in 1977, Hamill made his screen debut in the soap opera “General Hospital” and appeared in the series “The Texas Wheelers”. Hamill also has an impressive body of work as a voiceover actor, including as The Joker in “Batman: The Animated Series” in the 1990s and again in the animated movie “Batman: The Killing Joke” and the video game “Arkham Asylum”.
The actor has also appeared in several Broadway productions over the years, including Amadeus and The Elephant Man.
