He has played one of the most famous characters in film history.
But Star Wars icon Mark Hamill has revealed why some of his fans have been left utterly dejected meeting him because he’s ‘let himself go’.
The 73-year-old actor shot to stardom playing protagonist Luke Skywalker in the 1977 classic, before reprising the role several times in The Empire Strikes Back (1981), Return of the Jedi (1983), The Force Awakens (2015) and The Last Jedi (2017).
Now, Hamill has joked that many of his young fans can’t believe he is the same man who portrayed the young Jedi and universe saviour Luke in the original franchise.
Speaking on the Smartless podcast, he said: ‘This has been happening for 20 or 30 years, the kids that were little when it came out are now parents.
‘And you’ll be in an airport or something and a five or 6-year-old, they think we made Star Wars two weeks ago.
Star Wars icon Mark Hamill has revealed why some of his fans have been left utterly dejected meeting him because he’s ‘let himself go’ (pictured in January 2025)
The 73-year-old actor shot to stardom playing protagonist Luke Skywalker in the 1977 classic, before reprising the role several times in The Empire Strikes Back (1981), Return of the Jedi (1983), The Force Awakens (2015) and The Last Jedi (2017)
‘There’s nothing to really date it in terms of models of cars or clothing or whatever. So they have no concept of time. And so they’ll, the parents will gesture to me and go, “Hey kids, look who it is. It’s Luke Skywalker'”
‘And they look at me in horror like, “God, what happened to this guy? He really let himself go”.
Father of three Hamill also revealed he has only seen the five movies in the nine series franchise only twice and can’t relate to Star Wars super fans.
He explained: ‘I saw them when they came out, but I don’t go back and see them again.
‘In fact, when they did the reissue with the special editions I saw the first one, Empire and Jedi once in the theatre. But I haven’t seen him again since.
‘And that’s a certain disconnect because the fans have seen them not only far more recently, but many, many, many, many more times than I have.
‘They play the games, they read the books and they know way more about it.
‘I know I’ve disappointed people. I took a Star Wars quiz once and flunked it.’
Now, Hamill has joked that many of his young fans can’t believe he is the same man who portrayed the young Jedi and universe saviour Luke in the original franchise (pictured 1977)
Father of three Hamill also revealed he has only seen the five movies in the nine series franchise only twice and can’t relate to Star Wars super fans (pictured in The Force Awakens)
Mark previously revealed that he sees no ‘reason’ to portray Luke Skywalker again, but remains open to returning to the role, he told CBS in 2023.
He said: ‘I had my time, and that’s good,’ Hamill said of playing the Force-enabled hero. ‘But that’s enough.’
When asked if there was ‘any chance’ he’d return, he said: ‘Well, you never say never. I just don’t see any reason to. Let me put it that way: I mean, they have so many stories to tell, they don’t need Luke anymore.’
When asked if he is okay with being remembered as Skywalker, he said: ‘Yeah. Well, I don’t care. I mean, the truth of the matter is, I never really expected to be remembered for anything. I just wanted to make a living doing what I liked.
‘And I thought, ”Well, it could be worse. I could be, like, known as being the best actor who ever played Adolf Hitler, you know?” At least Luke is an admirable fellow!’
