Mark Hamill Answers the Web's Most Searched Questions

"The Machine" star Mark Hamill takes the WIRED Autocomplete interview and answers the web's most searched questions about himself. How did he win the role of Luke Skywalker? How did he create The Joker's iconic laugh? Did he really do a voice in "The Little Mermaid?" Find out the answer to these questions and more when Mark Hamill takes the WIRED Autocomplete Interview. Director: James Herron Director of Photography: AJ Young Editor: Jordan Calig Talent: Mark Hamill Creative Producer: Katherine Wzorek Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi Associate Producer: Paul Gulyas Production Manager: Peter Brunette Production Coordinator: Kevin Balash Talent Booker: Lauren Mendoza; Meredith Judkins Camera Operator: Lucas Vilicich Sound Mixer: Kari Barber Production Assistant: Phillip Arliss; Lauren Boucher Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen Assistant Editor: Billy Ward

Video Transcript

- Hi, this is Mark Hamill and this is the "Wired Auto Complete" interview.

[bright orchestral music] Oh, hungry are you?

To the commissary you are going?

[bright orchestral music] How did Mark Hamill get the role of Luke?

It was an audition.

I went in and I talked to, it was Brian De Palma and George looking for people for "Star Wars"?

George never said a word.

I came out and I said, who was Brian De Palma's assistant?

He said, that was George Lucas.

Now I'd seen "American Graffiti", but it was just a general talk, you know, tell us a little about yourself.

It wasn't until later that I got an audition script to do a screen test.

And I didn't read the whole screenplay until I got the part.

So I had those 10, 12 pages to read I couldn't make out.

What is this?

Is this like a parody, a "Flash Gordon" now who talks like this?

It was a lot of technical jargon.

It was a scene in the cockpit with Han Solo.

I did this green test with Harrison and sometimes you know how you did like, oh, I really nailed that one.

That one I had no clue.

My agent said, "How did it go?"

I said, you know, I don't know.

It went.

Let's see what happens.

And you see what happened?

How did Mark Hamill get the role of Joker?

I just read for it and I had a confidence that really helped me because there was this big outcry that Michael Keaton was gonna play Batman.

Oh, he's "Mr.

Mom", he's a comedy actor.

I mean, they hadn't even seen him and they didn't realize how great he would become.

But there was great controversy.

So when I went in I thought, you think they're gonna hire Luke Skywalker to play the Joker?

The fans will lose their minds.

I was so sure that I couldn't be cast.

I was completely relaxed.

A lot of times there's performance anxiety cuz you want the part.

Here, I knew I couldn't get the part, so who cares?

And I drove outta the parking lot thinking that's the best Joker they'll ever hear.

And it's too bad they can't cast me.

And as soon as they did cast me that reversed, I was like, oh no, I can't do this.

It's really one of my favorite characters to play because he's insane and because he's insane he's never boring.

It's just fun to play a character that creates chaos wherever he goes.

How long has Mark Hamill been married?

Oh my gosh, I'm not good at math but we got married in 1978.

So-- [mumbles] 40 something years.

And potentially, I think it's gonna work out.

Fingers crossed.

How to do Mark Hamill Joker laugh?

I get asked to do this.

I'll be in the grocery store.

It could be Toys "R" Us.

"Do the laugh.

Do the laugh."

Well, first of all you have to warm up.

It's like a car engine.

If you just rip it'll hurt your throat.

And plus there's no subtle way to do it.

So I'm standing in Toys "R" Us laughing maniacally and people are like casting me worried looks like, "What's that old man doing to that poor 10 year old kid?"

But I do get asked to do it a lot.

Oh I noticed.

Oh okay.

We're good there.

Okay.

What was Mark Hamill's first job?

I worked at McDonald's when I was 15 and a half years old and I was very proud to make minimum wage.

What school did Mark Hamill go to?

Well my father was in the Navy, so we moved all the time.

I went to nine schools in 12 years graduating from Yokohama High in Japan.

What is Mark Hamill's favorite food?

[laughs] Uh, it's hard to pick.

I like fruit.

It's basic, it's healthy and you don't have to worry about watching your waistline so much.

What does Mark Hamill look like now?

I look like this.

It's a shame, isn't it?

Here we have who Mark Hamill.

Who did Mark Hamill play in "The Flash"?

The Trickster.

Sort of a variation on the Joker which I'm very familiar with as well.

Who did Mark Hamill voice in "Futurama"?

I think I was the Hanukkah Zombie.

It's been a while so you might catch me if I'm off there.

Who was Mark Hamill in "The Little Mermaid"?

Well, I did two episodes of the series.

In one, I played Hans Christian Anderson writing "The Little Mermaid" which was interesting cuz that was sort of a history lesson.

And in the other episode I played Sebastian's brother which was a lot of fun.

Who did Mark Hamill play on "General Hospital"?

I played Kent Murray who was the nephew of Jesse Brewer.

Emily McLaughlin.

She was one of the main characters.

I wasn't a real fan of soap operas but everybody there was so nice and it was a great education to learn how to find your light, how to hit your marks.

And I was on for nine months, which was perfect and I still have great memories of working there.

Who is Mark Hamill's father?

My father is William Thomas Hamill.

He was a career naval officer and I was the middle of seven children.

He wanted me to follow his footsteps and go into the military.

So, sadly I disappointed him in that regard.

But hopefully I've made up for it.

And by the way, he wasn't that impressed with "Star Wars".

You know what really impressed him?

When I was on the Bob Hope Christmas special?

"Well, now my son has really made it," right?

Here's the is Mark Hamill.

Is Mark Hamill nice?

Mm.

I try to be.

Is Mark Hamill Chucky?

I did do Chucky in a reboot of "Child's Play".

I'm not Brad Dourif, he's the original Chucky.

In the original, a serial killer's soul is transplanted into the toy.

In our version he was a artificial intelligence where somebody took off the safety measure so that he had no restraint.

And it was a different approach because he was an innocent in the beginning and he just learned the wrong things.

But I really enjoyed doing that project.

Is Mark Hamill fire lord ozai?

Yes I am.

I remember reading the first script thinking, this thing's gonna get canceled in four episodes cuz it's too smart.

And instead it ran many, many seasons.

It was really gratifying to hear that parents like to watch it with their children cuz it talked up to children rather than talking down to them.

And it was a very, very smart show.

Is Mark Hamill in "Kingsman"?

Yes, I did a small role in "Kingsman" and it was the very first one.

It was nice because it was just a nice character turn.

I love character parts and I wasn't responsible for carrying the movie.

That was other people.

Is Mark Hamlin in one piece?

Well, so far.

But the day is young so let's wait and see.

Is Mark Hamill in "Adventure Time"?

I think I did an "Adventure Time", but I can't for the life of you tell you what character it was.

Once you start doing animation, I've done, I don't know.

I'm sure over a thousand, I don't know, parts.

The first one was 92 I guess with Joker.

But I remember when the kids were small we watching Cartoon Network and I go shh, wait a minute.

I think that Gangster Crab is me.

And you'd listen and you'd go, yeah it is because they don't tell you when they're gonna be on and when you do animation it takes six months for the animation to come back.

So there must be hundreds and hundreds of jobs I did that I've never seen cuz it's hard to keep up with them all.

Okay.

Can Mark Hamill sing?

I did a musical on Broadway and everybody in it was more talented musically than I was.

The way I described it when I auditioned was, look I can play Finch in out a scene business without really trying.

I'll never play Billy Bigelow in "Carousel" 'cause I just don't have the vocal chops.

But if it's an acting singing role that's something I can do.

But I haven't done it very often.

Does Mark Hamill have a Hollywood star?

You know I did.

I got one and I was stunned.

I mean, what an honor.

So there you go.

And now Carrie Fisher got one very recently and apparently we're gonna be neighbors so that's nice cuz she's always fun to be around.

Was Mark Hamill a figure skater?

[laughs] You know, you're thinking of Scott Hamilton and we follow each other on Twitter because he's told stories where he's gotten mistaken for me and I've told stories where they asked me about ice skating.

So the answer is no, I'm not.

Can Mark Hamill speak Japanese?

I went to 11 to 12th grade at Yokohama High School and when I lived there I got pretty good.

But the problem is, unless you keep it up every day a lot of it falls away.

So I've forgotten more than I knew.

If I watch a Japanese television station or when we've gone back to Japan, things start coming back to me.

But you gotta keep up with it.

You can't just let it idle or you forget it forever.

Does Mark Hamill have a dog named Mark?

I did an episode of the "Big Bang Theory" and the way they brought me into the show was they had Simon Helberg's character find my lost dog.

So when he returned it to me, he freaked out.

He said, "Oh, you're Mark Hamill."

And I said, hey, how you doing, to this dog I'm holding.

How are you doing Bark?

And it was a setup for Simon to get jokes about his name is Bark, Bark Hamill?

I get that question a lot now because we do have dogs.

We have Millie, Mabel and Trixie also known as Bat Light cuz of her ears.

But, I don't have a dog named Bark.

I should though.

Okay.

Mark Hamill latest movie.

"The Machine" with Bert Kreischer.

And it's unlike anything I've ever done.

It's bonkers.

It's funny.

It's an action comedy and I really hope you go see it in theaters because comedies play so much better with an audience.

Don't wait two months and sit and watch it on your couch.

Get out there.

Laughter's infectious.

Look, all I'm trying to find is 1,011,780 viewers to see it in the theater.

Is that too much to ask?

Mark Hamill Yoda impression.

Well, here's the problem.

When Frank was doing Yoda, everybody started doing Yoda.

The cameramen, the caterers, wardrobe, stand-ins, stunt doubles.

Oh, hungry are you?

To the commissary you are going?

And Frank eventually had to say, "Look, I'm being influenced "by your impressions and I want to keep it pure."

So I could see exactly what he was talking about.

We all stopped on a dime.

And the rest is history.

Mark Hamill Hobgoblin.

It's hard to get typecast in animation but I did after the Joker.

They wanted me to play nothing but these maniacal super villains.

It was hard to try and make sure you stayed away from the Joker with Hobgoblin.

I put him down lower and made him a little more sinister in that way.

But it's really fun doing animation because the definition of the character actor is an actor who disappears into their role.

They don't see the actor, they see the character.

Well, animation does that for you.

They don't see the actor.

So you can play all these parts that you would never get on camera.

I never got to do dialects on camera.

I mean, I think by law only Meryl Streep is allowed to do dialects.

So I got to play Australian and Italian and all these different characters.

I love animation and the animated voice community is so wonderful.

They're so welcoming and so talented these people.

I'm telling you, I went to sessions so entertained that I thought, you know, in any other circumstances they could have charged me a cover charge for being at that four hour session.

That's how much fun it is to do animation.

Mark Handle video gaming roles.

I played video games when my kids were small but when they outgrew them, I didn't continue on.

So I don't really play video games.

The most memorable recently were the Arkham Asylum games with Kevin as my Batman as he always was.

People will come up to me and say, "When you get to level three if you do."

I said, I hate this burst your bubble.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Cuz no, I don't play them.

You don't have to play them to voice them.

Mark Hamill Harrison Ford impression.

All I can say is I did him once on I think it was Seth Meyers.

The next time I saw him, he said, "Hey, I don't sound anything like that.

I said, yeah, I know.

You don't sound anything like that but his voice is so minimal, it draws you into what he's saying.

Like, he says it in such a soft spoken manner.

That alone, I think is part of what makes him so riveting as an actor.

But I'm lucky to have worked with him.

- [Producer] Were you surprised by any questions?

- Yeah, I guess a few.

I mean, you play video games.

I hate to have to admit in front of everyone.

No, I don't play video games, what are you outta your mind.

- [Producer 2] You should've told the Dorothy Hamill story.

- Oh.

Well I got pulled over one time for going over the speed limit.

The guy said, "License and registration."

I gave it to him.

Now, that week, Dorothy Hamill was on the cover either "Time" or "Newsweek", I can't remember which.

And it happened to be on the passenger side.

I was driving alone and the officer when he said, "Dorothy Hamill, is there is any relation?"

I said, yeah, she's my sister and I get it all the time.

I'm so sick of hearing about her skating career.

And he goes, "Oh, could you get me her autograph?"

And I said, do you want her autograph?

And he gave me his information.

I probably shouldn't admit this he'd probably come find me and arrest me.

But when I got home, I signed the magazine cover, best wishes officer whatever your name is, XOXO Dorothy Hamill 'cause we do spell it the same way.

And he ripped up the ticket and saved myself what, like $40.

Now I hope the statute of limitations has run out.

Otherwise I'm in big trouble.