Actor Robert Englund says that Mark Hamill's agent hates that Englund claims credit for Star Wars actor Hamill being cast as Luke Skywalker. Englund has worked as an actor on the stage and screen for over fifty years, and is best known for originating the role of Freddy Krueger in Wes Craven's A Nightmare On Elm Street franchise. Hamill has played more than a few iconic characters himself, including providing the voice for DC Comics' the Joker in a long list of movies and television series since 1992. But he's still best known for his first ever film role, Luke Skywalker, the lead protagonist of the original Star Wars trilogy from creator George Lucas.
To say Star Wars went on to be wildly successful is an enormous understatement. Over forty years after A New Hope premiered, Star Wars is still dominating at the box office, not to mention toys, television series, and video games. Fans range from die-hard to casual, but even those who haven't seen a single installment of the franchise knows names like Luke, Leia, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. In addition to the fictional mythology of the galaxy far far away, fans also study the true history of how Star Wars came to be, from improvised lines to anecdotes about auditions.
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While appearing on Michael Rosenbaum's Inside of You podcast, Englund told the story of the part he played in getting Hamill cast as Luke Skywalker, much to Hamill's agent's alleged irritation. Check out his comments below:
“Mark Hamill was my roommate and I said to him, ‘You know, George Lucas is doing another movie and you might be right for this.' So my once upon a time in Hollywood story is that Freddy Krueger told Luke Skywalker to call his agent and he got the part. His agent hates me telling this story, because she insists that she already submitted him for the part.”
Englund frequently tells this story at conventions, and it does appear to be in jest. Luckily, Hamill has previously tweeted a clarification about the sequence of events. He explained that while Englund did give him a head's up about the role, so did several other people, and his agent had already set up a meeting. Clearly, the universe wanted Hamill to play Skywalker, and it went on to become a career-defining role for him that lasted decades. He returned for all three installments of Disney's Star Wars sequel trilogy released from 2015-2019.
Hamill isn't the only one with a serendipitous story behind his casting in Star Wars. Harrison Ford was originally unable to audition for the movie as he had already appeared in American Grafitti and Lucas wanted to cast actors he hadn't yet directed. However, Lucas did ask Ford to sit in during screen tests and feed lines to actors auditioning for other roles. Through that process, Lucas eventually realized Ford was the right choice for Han and ended up casting him. Other great actors came close to being cast in Star Wars, like Sylvester Stallone and Al Pacino, but it's hard to imagine anyone else as those characters. Hamill and Ford are examples of being in the right place at the right time.
Source: Inside of You
