Over four decades after he debuted in the 1977 original Star Wars, Mark Hamill is now a globally famous star. Finally, the iconic Star Wars actor got a star for himself on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Hamill became the recipient of the 2,630th star, right opposite the Disney’s own El Capitan Theatre, with special guests such as Harrison Ford, George Lucas, Billie Lourd, Kelly Marie Tran and even R2-D2 in attendance. In case you were not able to be at the Hollywood Boulevard to witness the occasion, we have a complete video of the ceremony below, along with a funny video from Jimmy Kimmel Live.
The night before he was to be honoured with his Walk of Fame star, Mark Hamill had appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, in a section featuring the actor outside Kimmel’s Hollywood Boulevard studio, and a few blocks from where he was to get his star, Hamill was shown carrying a jackhammer and he wrecked Jimmy Kimmel’s star on the Walk of Fame. Hamill then stated that he had picked out the ideal spot for his star, and suggested Kimmel to put his star opposite the Hooters on Hollywood Boulevard. The funny skit ended when Kimmel is shown telling that President Donald Trump also has a star on the Walk of Fame, across the street, and it led to Hamill sprinting off camera.
As far as the actual Hamill’s star ceremony is concerned, Leron Gubler, the president and CEO of Hollywood Chamber of Commerce presided over the festivities and was flanked by a couple of Stormtroopers. Gubler disclosed that this was the largest attendance that had ever been present at such ceremonies, including the stars such as Harrison Ford and George Lucas, and that’s honestly not a surprise. The iconic Star Trek actor William Shatner turned out to be a no-show, but, only after delivering Hamill an epic Twitter burn.
Gubler got the ceremony going with talking about Hamill’s career, his initial performances including the theatrical work done by him at Los Angeles City College, and also his TV work prior to Star Wars, and of course, his unforgettable voice work. George Lucas was the first person to honor Hamill on stage, and this is what he said about the legendary actor.
“Mark Hamill is a character that can’t be written. He is extremely enthusiastic about everything he does, and that’s exactly what I was looking for when I was looking for Luke Skywalker. I was looking for somebody who grew up on a farm, out in the middle of nowhere, that was very naive about what was going on in the world, young, but very enthusiastic. He proved to wear his mettle well. I had gone through a very long process of casting, and it became very clear after a while, during screen tests, that not only was he a good actor, but he was also great with the other actors who were in the finals to be the cast of Star Wars. We always considered it an ensemble piece between the three of them and they really had to get along with each other, or at least have some kind of chemistry. Apart from anything else, they did have chemistry. I’m not sure it was always good, but it was definitely chemistry. A high school chemistry, where someone goes off in the background and tries to hide the flames.”
Late in his speech, Lucas stated that Hamill was young enough to work in many more films, and Hamill responded by saying, ‘You are too.’ But Lucas shunned the notion, and while walking away from the stage, he said that he isn’t a part of the “game” now. Harrison Ford also mentioned that the crowd was so huge that it forced them to shut down the Hollywood Boulevard, and it was bigger than the crowd during his own star ceremony. Harrison Ford also added that he was unhappy about the third member of their “trio,” the famous late Carrie Fisher, wasn’t present to celebrate with them. You can watch the entire ceremony below, thanks to the Variety YouTube channel and the festivities start at the 15:10 mark.
