Mark Hamill Explains Why His Time Playing Luke Skywalker Is Over

It’s always tough to say good-bye to our heroes. For over 40 years, Mark Hamill has graced movie theater and TV screens with his portrayal of Luke Skywalker, delivering a character that embodied lessons of hope and optimism for kids of multiple generations. The handling of the character in the sequel trilogy left a sour taste in many fans’ mouths, even for Hamill himself, as the character had a jarring portrayal in

The Last Jedi

before ultimately meeting his demise followed by a brief cameo “go get ’em” appearance in

The Rise of Skywalker

. The treatment of Luke in the trilogy will forever be a point of contention among the fans, but everyone can at least agree that seeing Hamill play the role again was a treat. The actor recently said on

Twitter that he’s officially done playing the character

, and has since shed more light on why that’s the case…

NEWS

In an interview with

Entertainment Weekly

, Mark Hamill explained why he feels his time playing Luke Skywalker is over:

Oh, I can’t imagine that, no.

I had a beginning, middle, and end

. Those films gave me far more than I ever expected when we started out so it’s never even occurred to me.

My farewell was in

Episode IX

and it was bittersweet.

He went on to say that he feels grateful for the opportunity of a lifetime to play Luke and feels that he’s not needed for Star Wars to continue:

I love all those people and

I certainly have affection for George and the character he created. I’m full of gratitude

for what it has given me and my career but

I don’t want to be greedy

. There are still so many more stories to tell and so many great actors to tell them, they don’t need me.

Hamill also discussed

The Mandalorian

, issuing high praise for the western set in space:

I think they have a wonderful advantage on

The Mandalorian

in that

it’s economical storytelling

… It sort of gets back to the basics of

George envisioning it as a western in space

. It has that tone of a Sergio Leone Western.

I’m very impressed

with it and to me…

The actor explained that the confined story avoids the need to one-up the epic spectacles seen in the films:

They

don’t have the burden of delivering a gigantic special effects extravaganza like the films

had to do… It’s like the superhero movies that have to deliver these gargantuan epics. And with

The Mandalorian,

they can concentrate more on the characters and the storytelling

. I think it’s excellent.

UPDATE:

During a video call with

Entertainment Tonight

, Hamill had more praise to offer for

The Mandalorian

My son said you have to watch

The Mandalorian

and

I think it’s great how they were able to keep it so minimalist

with the characters and the story and [still] keep it mainstream. I thought

it was more in theme with what George [Lucas] wanted originally

… [it] was superb.

It was so well done

WHAT THIS MEANS

Given the outcome of Luke’s story in the sequel trilogy, it’s hard to imagine a way for Hamill to reprise the role short of another saga trilogy, if he even desired. We’ve been so fortunate to have Hamill play the role for six films, as many never thought a set of sequels would never happen. He’s been nothing but kind and gracious towards the fans over the years, and anything good to come in the future of Star Wars will in large part be built on Hamill’s shoulders.

Hamill has discussed the brilliance of economic storytelling before, noting that Vader’s first appearance in

A New Hope

as a black-clad warrior in a white ship did all of the talking for the character. It’s evident that the actor has great admiration for George Lucas and his style of storytelling, as he cites the similarities of

The Mandalorian

to the Maker’s intentions for the franchise. The hit Disney+ series certainly has the benefit of being more contained, allowing it to avoid competition with the theatrical Star Wars films that Hamill has helped bring to unfathomable heights of popularity.

The Last Jedi

before ultimately meeting his demise followed by a brief cameo “go get ’em” appearance in

The Rise of Skywalker

Twitter that he’s officially done playing the character

, and has since shed more light on why that’s the case…

NEWS

In an interview with

Entertainment Weekly

, Mark Hamill explained why he feels his time playing Luke Skywalker is over:

He went on to say that he feels grateful for the opportunity of a lifetime to play Luke and feels that he’s not needed for Star Wars to continue:

Oh, I can’t imagine that, no.

I had a beginning, middle, and end

. Those films gave me far more than I ever expected when we started out so it’s never even occurred to me.

My farewell was in

Episode IX

and it was bittersweet.

Hamill also discussed

The Mandalorian

, issuing high praise for the western set in space:

I love all those people and

I certainly have affection for George and the character he created. I’m full of gratitude

for what it has given me and my career but

I don’t want to be greedy

. There are still so many more stories to tell and so many great actors to tell them, they don’t need me.

The actor explained that the confined story avoids the need to one-up the epic spectacles seen in the films:

I think they have a wonderful advantage on

The Mandalorian

in that

it’s economical storytelling

… It sort of gets back to the basics of

George envisioning it as a western in space

. It has that tone of a Sergio Leone Western.

I’m very impressed

with it and to me…

UPDATE:

During a video call with

Entertainment Tonight

, Hamill had more praise to offer for

The Mandalorian

They

don’t have the burden of delivering a gigantic special effects extravaganza like the films

had to do… It’s like the superhero movies that have to deliver these gargantuan epics. And with

The Mandalorian,

they can concentrate more on the characters and the storytelling

. I think it’s excellent.

WHAT THIS MEANS

My son said you have to watch

The Mandalorian

and

I think it’s great how they were able to keep it so minimalist

with the characters and the story and [still] keep it mainstream. I thought

it was more in theme with what George [Lucas] wanted originally

… [it] was superb.

It was so well done

Hamill has discussed the brilliance of economic storytelling before, noting that Vader’s first appearance in

A New Hope

The Mandalorian

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