Mark Hamill reflects on ‘Star Wars’ screen test with Harrison Ford

Mark Hamill recalls thinking he was the ‘annoying side-kick’ in ‘Star Wars’

By Web Desk
February 18, 2025
Mark Hamill talks about his fist audition with Harrison Ford for Star Wars
Mark Hamill talks about his fist audition with Harrison Ford for 'Star Wars'

Mark Hamill looked back on his first audition with Harrison Ford for the 1977 film, Star Wars.

The Wild Robot star in a conversation on the latest Smartless podcast episode, recalled his reaction to reading the script for the fist time, thinking it was meant to be "a parody" of other space adventure films.

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When the young actor inquired Ford about it, the Indiana Jones star said, "Let’s just do it, and we’ll talk about it later."

"Translation: let’s just do it and we’ll never talk about it later," added Hamill.

The Emmy award also thought that Harrison was "the leading man" while was a just an "annoying sidekick."

Hamill continued, "Because I’m badgering him and all this stuff."

It was after he got the role, Hamill opened the script which was titled The Adventures of Luke Starkiller, left the actor thinking he was the lead since he auditioned for Luke.

However, he dismissed his speculations figuring Harrison was Luke, because " he was a traditional leading man. He was 35 or whatever, and he was Harrison Ford. Come on."

"So, I started to read this thing and, in the very beginning, I realized, 'Oh my god. This is seen through the eyes of this teenage farm boy.' That was unusual in and of itself. You'd think it'd probably be through the eyes of Han Solo," Hamill remembered.

Hamill was 24, when he filmed the movie which was eventually retitled, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. He told the host that he "idolized" Ford, which helped make the relationship between Luke and Han "real."

He said, "I looked at him as a mentor or an older brother and all that."

The Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope became a critically acclaimed film with six Oscar wins out of 10 nominations.

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