"Mark Hamill"

Summary

SmartLess Podcast Episode Summary: "Mark Hamill"

Release Date: February 17, 2025

Hosts: Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
Guest: Mark Hamill

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of SmartLess, hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett welcome legendary actor Mark Hamill to the show. Known primarily for his iconic role as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars saga, Hamill shares a wealth of stories from his illustrious career, offering listeners an intimate glimpse into his experiences both on and off the set.

Early Career and Auditioning for Star Wars

Mark Hamill begins by recounting his early acting days, highlighting the pivotal moment when he auditioned for Star Wars. He describes the casting process with George Lucas, illuminating the uncertainties and excitement that surrounded his initial screen test.

• Mark Hamill (00:06:20): “When I went to the audition, I went to Harrison because he had done American Graffiti. He'd known George. And I said, Harrison, is this like a send-up? He goes, let’s just get it done.”

Hamill emphasizes the spontaneity and trust placed in him by both Harrison Ford and George Lucas, which ultimately led to his casting as Luke Skywalker.

Working with Harrison Ford and George Lucas

The conversation delves into Hamill's dynamic with co-star Harrison Ford and director George Lucas. He shares anecdotes about filming in North Africa and the challenges faced during production, including harsh weather conditions.

• Mark Hamill (00:10:50): “George is not like an actor's director. He comes alive in the editing room. He doesn’t want to hear about backstory or motivation or whatever.”

Hamill praises Ford's professionalism and Lucas's visionary direction, highlighting how these relationships enriched his acting journey.

Impact of Star Wars on Hamill’s Career

Hamill reflects on the unexpected explosion of Star Wars' popularity and how it transformed his life. He candidly discusses the surge in fame and the overwhelming fan interactions that followed.

• Mark Hamill (00:16:31): “It takes a lot of math. My wallet on Autotrader helps you know exactly how much you'll pay each month for your car so you never have to do car math again.”

He shares how the movie's success was a double-edged sword, bringing immense recognition but also typecasting challenges.

Voice Acting and Later Work

Transitioning from on-screen roles, Hamill delves into his successful career in voice acting, most notably his portrayal of the Joker in various Batman animated series and video games. He discusses the nuances of voicing such an iconic villain and the creative freedoms it afforded him.

• Mark Hamill (00:36:51): “Frank Oz is such an artist. When he puts that thing on, you're just there, you know, it was so real to me.”

Hamill expresses his pride in redefining the Joker character, enhancing its depth and complexity through his voice performance.

Interactions with Fans and Legacy

A heartfelt segment, Hamill talks about his enduring relationship with Star Wars fans. He recounts touching stories where fan interactions helped him navigate personal challenges, such as his father's divorce.

• Mark Hamill (00:55:22): “I have to tell you, these people, when they come up to you, you know, and talk about it, they put it in such personal terms, you know, that it helped me get through my father's divorce.”

He emphasizes the reciprocal relationship between actors and fans, appreciating how support from fans has been integral to his longevity in the industry.

Recent Projects: Life of Chuck and The Long Walk

Mark Hamill discusses his recent projects, including "The Life of Chuck" and "The Long Walk." He shares insights into his collaboration with director Mike Flanagan and the creative challenges of adapting Stephen King's work.

• Mark Hamill (00:57:35): “It's so meaningful in this time about tolerance and joining together for the greater good.”

Hamill expresses excitement about these roles, highlighting their departure from his traditional characters and the meaningful narratives they present.

Light-Hearted Banter and Scotty’s Appearance

Throughout the episode, the hosts maintain their trademark humor, including playful interactions and teasing. A memorable moment features a young fan named Scotty, who joins the conversation briefly, adding an extra layer of charm to the episode.

• Will Arnett (00:28:44): “First of all, welcome to Smartless.”
• Mark Hamill (00:28:50): “I mean, thank you.”

This segment underscores the show's ability to blend insightful discussion with spontaneous humor, keeping listeners thoroughly entertained.

Conclusion

As the episode wraps up, Hamill reflects on his career's trajectory, the importance of embracing change, and his passion for storytelling across various mediums. The hosts express their admiration for Hamill's versatility and enduring legacy in the entertainment industry.

• Mark Hamill (00:55:22): “We owe everything to the fans. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be anywhere.”

The episode concludes with heartfelt thanks and warm farewells, leaving listeners with a deep appreciation for Mark Hamill's contributions to film and his genuine connection with his audience.

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Notable Quotes:

• Mark Hamill (00:06:20): “When you see my guest tonight, you're going to be like, of course.”
• Mark Hamill (00:16:31): “It takes a lot of math. My wallet on Autotrader helps you know exactly how much you'll pay each month for your car so you never have to do car math again.”
• Mark Hamill (00:36:51): “Frank Oz is such an artist. When he puts that thing on, you're just there, you know, it was so real to me.”
• Mark Hamill (00:55:22): “We owe everything to the fans. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be anywhere.”

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Conclusion

This episode of SmartLess offers a comprehensive and entertaining exploration of Mark Hamill's career, his experiences with Star Wars, his transition into voice acting, and his ongoing relationship with fans. Through candid storytelling and humorous exchanges, Hamill provides listeners with a rich and engaging narrative that celebrates his contributions to the world of entertainment.

Transcript

[Jason Bateman]

Autotrader has the largest selection of new cars. Used cars, electric cars, even flying cars. Okay, not flying cars, but as soon as those get invented, they'll be on Autotrader. Snap. But they do have extensive search features and Kelley Blue Book. My wallet. A tool that helps you know exactly how much you'll pay each month for your car. So whether you want something practical with no surprise costs, or the latest trends, if you see a car you like, find it on Autotrader. Thank you to Paramount for sponsoring today's episode of Smartless. Paramount is the home of the UEFA Champions League. The UEFA Champions League has reached the knockout stage, where the best of the best in European club soccer face off to be crowned champions of Europe. Watch the best coverage of the best soccer in the world all season long live on Paramount. Experience the excitement of every single match live, exclusively on Paramount. Visit paramountplus.com livesports to get started. Hey, guys. I'm sure you're like the rest of the country and you checked out the super bowl and all the great commercials. There was one that really stood out called Stand up to All Hate, that starred Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady. It was really, really powerful. And the reasons for hate are just so stupid. It's a strong reminder that hate in our country continues to. To be out of control. So please join us at Smartless in standing up to it. If you see hate, speak up. Call it out. Your voice is a powerful tool in this fight. Learn more by following up with Hate on Instagram and TikTok.

[Will Arnett]

Guys, let's just scooch in here real quick. Let's just wedge our way in here right before we're going to start a new. But I just want to scooch right in here right before we start and just kind of look at you in the eye.

[Sean Hayes]

A little appetizer, a little audio appetizer, a little appetizer.

[Will Arnett]

Just get a little scooch in. Just kind of like a quick little.

[Sean Hayes]

Let's just make it a twosome today.

[Jason Bateman]

Okay?

[Sean Hayes]

Here we go. Welcome to Smartless.

[Jason Bateman]

Yes, I'm wedged in. Who was that other guy?

[Will Arnett]

Still wedged in.

[Sean Hayes]

Here we go.

[Will Arnett]

Smart, smart, smart.

[Sean Hayes]

Sean, where'd you get that sweet Smartless hat?

[Jason Bateman]

Isn't that cool? From the. From the merch store at Sirius XM.

[Sean Hayes]

So you go to SiriusXM, you can just buy, like, smart lists, like, T shirts, hats, and, like, what if I wanted, like, leg warmers? Do they have those?

[Jason Bateman]

Why, yes, yes, yes. You could do all that, you know.

[Sean Hayes]

Do we get any tr.

[Jason Bateman]

Does anyone this was sent to me.

[Sean Hayes]

We talked about this before.

[Mark Hamill]

Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

Why'd they send us that? I got one of these.

[Jason Bateman]

I don't know. Did you get it or.

[Sean Hayes]

No, I did get it. Why did they send us one of those hats? They're particularly proud of it.

[Jason Bateman]

I don't know, because they're like new, I guess, in the store.

[Sean Hayes]

They're pretty sweet. Amanda stole mine immediately.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, that's really cool.

[Will Arnett]

Who came up with those? Sean, you had a hand in that, that particular hat, right?

[Jason Bateman]

No, I didn't. I haven't. No, not at all.

[Sean Hayes]

Will's got notes. Hold on, hold on, hold on.

[Jason Bateman]

Trucker hat. This is like a baseball hat. We'll.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, but it's, it's got a real, real curve on the bill. It is a trucker hat, which I like, but it's got a real soft top to it. So kind of, kind of rolls back. I like a high top to my trucker hat.

[Will Arnett]

We call that it's almost got a slouch and I. And I don't like it.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, I know you.

[Sean Hayes]

But you can find the high, the high top trucker hats on the site there.

[Jason Bateman]

Yes, you can.

[Sean Hayes]

Where is that, Sean?

[Jason Bateman]

It's at the Sirius xm. I don't know the link. Does anybody know the link? I don't know.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, we'll put it in the chat. Yeah, everyone's getting the chat. Oh, yeah, we should get to this.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, yeah, people are jumping on the chat, right? Oh, hang on, let me just take a look. The chat is blowing up.

[Jason Bateman]

Wait, Jay, did you make it to Maple's game?

[Sean Hayes]

I did. I saw the first quarter and she was. I was telling Will.

[Jason Bateman]

Basketball, right?

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah. She's got incredible ball skills, which is what I think. Sean's or Will's handle one, maybe both your handles. Coming up through High school ball skill haze.

[Jason Bateman]

Here he comes.

[Will Arnett]

I love not even commenting and just watching you sort of, sort of finding the joke. And I think that what you. One of you.

[Sean Hayes]

That's how I felt all day today doing our, doing our, doing our sketches today.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, we were working on something today and chatting about something today that's to come that we keep talking about.

[Sean Hayes]

Not sure we got anything usable today.

[Jason Bateman]

I absolutely.

[Will Arnett]

Jb Kitty break. We got. Yeah, of course we did. Of course, of course. Of course we did. And it's, it's all in. In the vein of this fun thing that we keep talking about that we're, that we're really excited about.

[Sean Hayes]

When are we going to talk more about that?

[Jason Bateman]

In a few weeks.

[Will Arnett]

Pretty soon.

[Sean Hayes]

When is the audience ready to hear?

[Will Arnett]

In a matter of weeks, we're going to be able to talk about what it really is. And I think it's exciting.

[Sean Hayes]

And I'm very excited to share.

[Jason Bateman]

I'm excited, too. Super excited.

[Sean Hayes]

You think it's something that they might like? They might.

[Jason Bateman]

Guess what else I'm excited about?

[Sean Hayes]

What is Nukes? Your next guest.

[Will Arnett]

This is what I like. I like a segue more than anything.

[Sean Hayes]

A smooth segue.

[Jason Bateman]

Will, have you figured it out yet? Because I was talking to Will, giving him clues.

[Will Arnett]

I was trying to think. You were like, oh, it's so give me a clue.

[Sean Hayes]

I'll figure it out. I'm brighter than him.

[Jason Bateman]

Well, so I'll read it. You'll guess it by the end of this intro. Here we go. We'll have to add him to our smart list. Legendary all star list. I've kind of started. But dedicated to his craft, he trained with an Olympic fencer before becoming the thing I cannot yet mention. As a child, he often contemplated who he'd rather fly as, Superman or Peter Pan. His career started with a role in General Hospital, which primed him for the pilot of Eight is Enough, John Stamos, as he patiently awaited May 25, 1977, when the world would come to know him as one of the most famous heroes in cinematic history. That role's Luke Skywalker, and he is Mark Hamill. Doug world.

[Sean Hayes]

Whoa, whoa. Mr. Hamill. Now, Sean, how are you even. Well, at least you're sitting.

[Jason Bateman]

I'm not even kidding. I'm shaking. Look, I'm shaking a little bit. Shaking a little bit.

[Sean Hayes]

How'd you get through the day? Sorry, we're going to meet you in a second, Mr. Hamill. This guy, Sean Hayes, lives and breathes Star Wars.

[Will Arnett]

He said, when you see my guest tonight, you're going to be like, of course. That makes total sense. And I was like, who could it be? It's not the mayor of Tatooine, but it's close.

[Sean Hayes]

It's close.

[Jason Bateman]

So wait, just before we start, my first of all, thank you for being on here. This is huge for me. And thank you, all of us.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, my God, this guy's a national treasure, for Christ sake.

[Jason Bateman]

You are. And I can't believe you're. But before we start, I just want to read to you what you wrote on your Instagram about Stephen King. You wrote, it took every ounce of discipline I possess to avoid freaking out and exposing myself as the weak kneed, slavish fanboy I truly am. And of Course, I feel the same way about you as you wrote about Stephen King, because I've been waiting 50 years to talk to you.

[Mark Hamill]

Oh, my God, this is crazy.

[Jason Bateman]

It's crazy that I'm talking to you.

[Will Arnett]

Well, it's not quite 50 years. It's 47. I mean, let's be honest, because the movie came out in 77. I saw A New Hope four times in a row. I. I know. I give Sean a lot of. For being a Star Wars. I saw the first one four times in the theaters when I was a kid.

[Mark Hamill]

Wow. So you were all like 12, 13, 14.

[Jason Bateman]

I was 7.

[Will Arnett]

We were both 7. Sean and I were both 7.

[Sean Hayes]

They both look much older than I do. But so now, Will, did you pay four times for it or did you just.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, I went four times. I went, yes, of course.

[Sean Hayes]

You left the theater and reentered four times.

[Will Arnett]

Nobody could believe it was a phenomenon that. That nobody could believe it. It changed everything.

[Jason Bateman]

And we were like, we talk about it all the time on this show. When we talk about it.

[Will Arnett]

We do. We do talk. And I give Sean a lot of shit just for. For being a nerd, Mark. But that's not the only reason he's a nerd. He's a nerd for a lot of other reasons.

[Sean Hayes]

Mark, how was it to continue being a part of that going forward? On and on? Did you think it would go on this long?

[Mark Hamill]

Oh, of course not. No. No, not at all. Although when we were doing it, I remember the first couple of days we shot in North Africa, I went over with Guinness and the Droids, and I hadn't met Carrier Harrison yet. And I said to George, why is this episode four? Why aren't you starting with episode one? He goes, well, well, episode one, it's a lot of exposition and it's more political. This trilogy is much more commercial.

[Jason Bateman]

So he knew.

[Sean Hayes]

Did he already have plans that he would go back and do those first three, or did he just kind of jettison that from the very beginning and just like, ah, yeah, we're just gonna not even do those three?

[Mark Hamill]

Well, the way I understood it was that he originally had planned four trilogies of 12, but when we were shooting, I asked him about the first trilogy, and he said. He explained, well, this is more commercial. There's a lot of exposition and it's political and it's about taxation and blah, blah, blah. So I wanted to. He wanted the. To feel like you walked into a serial chapter play and you'd miss the first few episodes. That's why they had the crawl to bring you up to speed. But I mean, as actors, you must appreciate this. When I auditioned, we just had a. It was an open cattle call. Brian De Palma was casting Stephen King's Carrie, the horror movie set in high school. And George was casting Star Wars. And it was a cattle call. Like I say, you sat down, they said, tell us a little about yourself. And you talked for five minutes. And they said, thank you. They didn't talk about the project at all. But here's the interesting part. My agent says, okay, you've got a screen test. We're sending you the page. It was like a 10 page scene with Harrison as Han Solo in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. No Wookiee, just the two of us. But there was no context. I mean, I'm reading this thing going, wait a second, is this like a parody or a send up of Flash Gordon? Is it like Mel, Mel Brooks or whatever? So I, when I went to the audition, I went to Harrison because he had done American Graffiti. He'd known George. And I said, Harrison, is this like, are we. Is this like a send up? I mean, is it. He said, hey, kid, let's just get it done. You know, he was absolutely.

[Jason Bateman]

I could listen to you imitate him all day.

[Sean Hayes]

So was he. Did he have to audition at all or was he was already set in that part coming off of American Graffiti?

[Mark Hamill]

Well, no, he'd already done American Graffiti when I did the screen test. I don't know whether he was set or not, but he did do a screen test with Carrie. So I guess George was fairly sure. And there were two sets of three. And Marsha Lucas, George's wife, said when he was packing to go to London, he hadn't decided between the two. I mean, there was no mix and match. It was me, Harrison and Carrie, or Will Seltzer, Terry Nunn. And I forget now, who was Han Solo. And she took credit. She said, I'm the one that suggests he go with you guys.

[Sean Hayes]

That's great.

[Jason Bateman]

That's amazing.

[Mark Hamill]

But here's, here's what's so interesting is. And I went to George at the same audition, said the same thing. I said to Harrison, is this like a parody or we series? He went, let's just do it and we'll talk about it later. Translation. Translation. Let's just do it and we'll never talk about it later.

[Will Arnett]

Sure, sure.

[Sean Hayes]

Shut up and hit your mark.

[Mark Hamill]

Exactly. George is not like. He's not an actor's director. He comes alive in the editing room. He doesn't Want to hear about backstory or motivation or whatever? Now, Irvin Kirschner was the opposite. He was very much into that. He did Empire. But like I say, the moment my agent said, okay, you got it, and they're sending the script over. I will never forget reading that script for the first time because it just blew my mind. I mean, even without John Williams music. So it was that great or the special effects. Yes, it was all on the page. You really got the sense of amazing. Yes, it was.

[Sean Hayes]

What about you realizing what part you had just gotten to?

[Mark Hamill]

Well, that's it. I have to tell you, Jason, when I. It was weeks, maybe a month later, and when I tested, I figured, oh, Harrison's the leading man. I'm like the annoying sidekick, right? Because I'm badgering him and all this stuff. And I have to do this for you. I mean, my daughter has heard this a million times. There was a line in the screen test that thankfully was not in the finished product. We're going towards the Death Star. And Solo says, basically, look, I've done my part. When we get to an inhabitable asteroid, I'm jumping you and the droids off, and here's my actual line. But we can't turn back. Fear is their greatest defense. I doubt if the actual security there is any greater than it was on Aquali or Sullis. And what there is is most likely directed towards a large scale assault. Now, try and make that sound like it's a spontaneous thought just coming off the top of your head.

[Sean Hayes]

I mean, it's.

[Mark Hamill]

And I mean, you could diagram this sentence.

[Jason Bateman]

Well, whenever. Whenever Scotty and I run out to the store, we say this line.

[Will Arnett]

We say, oh, this should be great.

[Jason Bateman]

But I was going into Tashi Station to pick up some power converters, which. Here it is. Here it is.

[Sean Hayes]

I was going into Tosche Station to.

[Jason Bateman]

Pick up some power converters.

[Mark Hamill]

There you go. You know, and people don't believe me, but I was trying to be as whiny baby as I could, so I had somewhere to go.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah. You had to be this kid who did it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mark Hamill]

And you gotta be as annoying and whiny as possible. But, you know, I still get garbage over that over the years because I just.

[Will Arnett]

I just want. I just. I didn't even tell you this, Sean. I just watched A New Hope again recently. With the little kids.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, yeah.

[Will Arnett]

With my kids. And it just. It holds up in the.

[Jason Bateman]

How old is it? How old is it? What is it, 1970.

[Mark Hamill]

Shot it in 76. And it came out in 77.

[Jason Bateman]

You guys shot. What is that?

[Will Arnett]

You shot it in 76. It's 48 years. Yeah, I was 24, almost 49. So you go. So you shoot that thing in 1976 in. In London and in North Africa. Right, right. And I remember, by the way, I remember my friend, this guy I worked with, Peter Cohn, who. He was a first assistant director on Lots. But one of his first jobs, he was a pa Right? On A New Hope. Peter was.

[Mark Hamill]

Yes. And the thing was, he was not going to be able to go to. They weren't taking him to North Africa, but when they discovered he spoke French, he was in. And he was like 19. And we became fast friends. And he's still one of my closest friends today.

[Jason Bateman]

Wow. I love that.

[Will Arnett]

He's a great guy. And I worked with him on a couple movies. He was the first AD On Blades of Glory. He was also first AD On With Nail and I, which is my favorite film of all time.

[Mark Hamill]

Yeah, it's great.

[Will Arnett]

But I remember him telling me, and maybe Mark, you can speak to this telling me about, like, for instance, R2D2 is just like this because it was 1976. It was just like this bucket, like this metallic thing. It would fall over, they'd kick it.

[Mark Hamill]

Yes, exactly. It's a marvel of editing because.

[Sean Hayes]

Sean, why are you crying?

[Jason Bateman]

Sean, I'm on the verge. On the verge.

[Will Arnett]

No, but tell us.

[Mark Hamill]

Well, no, it was like you say, I mean, George called it the most expensive low budget movie ever made. And what he meant by that, that was every single penny has to be up on the screen. The only people they actually had to pay decent salaries to would be Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing. All of us were unknowns. I think I got 1,000 a week. I remember complaining to my agent, Well, I make 8,000 to 10,000 on television a week. And she said, hey, get a grip. It's a movie. It's George Lucas. It's Alec Guinness. I went, oh, yeah. And as you know, I mean, money is secondary. We do this because we love it. Yes. And if you can get a nice Sal. But.

[Jason Bateman]

And so. But wait, what about Robert Englund for my sister Tracy? Robert Englund was Freddy Krueger. And he told you to audition for Star Wars. Is that true?

[Mark Hamill]

Well, in his book, he said, you know, basically, if it weren't for me, Mark, wouldn't it be Luke Skywalker? And to be fair, I mean, I love Robert, but when he said that to me, he had just come back from an audition you know how it is. Once you've auditioned, you feel free to tell your friends, oh, have you been out for this thing? He said, have you been out for this George Lucas thing? I said, no. And I went to the phone, I called my agent and I said, and I told her about it, and she said, I'm all over it. You've got an appointment next Wednesday. So I hate to burst Robert's bubble. And it.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mark Hamill]

It makes for a better story, sure.

[Will Arnett]

But, sure, it's a good sound bite. But you know what? We've put it to rest now and fucking yeah, he's about to unload. I don't know the guy at all. It's great.

[Sean Hayes]

Were you, what was your work schedule like before Star Wars?

[Jason Bateman]

Were you, you were in the pilot of Eight is Enough. That's what I want to know. And then you got replaced.

[Mark Hamill]

But they changed a lot of the people in the pilot. They changed the father, they changed three siblings, including me. I was just doing, you know, I, I, I did TV after the soap, I did TV movies. I don't know how many of 30 or something between 70 and 76. And lots and lots of, you know, FBI.

[Sean Hayes]

And you were a working actor. This wasn't a huge shock to you, to the system when this thing took off? I mean, I guess, how can you be prepared for that, that kind of exposure? But it wasn't. You weren't, you weren't right off a truck?

[Mark Hamill]

No, no, no. And the way I felt about it, I thought I didn't see any ads for it on television. Like, I'd watch Saturday Night Live, and usually they place a movie commercials there. I didn't see it. And on the day it opened, the driver picked me up to go dub the 35 millimeter prints. Because it only opened in like 16 theaters in 70 millimeter. And I said, can you drive by Gromit's Chinese? I want to see what it looks like up on the marquee. Here's a fun fact. There was such disagreement on how to promote it at Fox that it opened with no poster.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, wow.

[Mark Hamill]

They just stapled the lobby cards up because they couldn't. Is this like one faction was promoting it like an entertainment journey beyond your imagination? Far beyond. The other one was like pushing the more comedic aspects, you know, Little Rascals in Outer Space. But they couldn't agree. So anyway, I said, can you drive by Gramas? And now what I thought was, this thing's gonna take a couple of weeks to get going. Cause the hardcore Sci fi, fantasy, horror fans are all gonna see it on day one, but it'll take word of mouth for it to spread and say, hey, you know what? It's pretty funny too. And it's, you know, it's all these things. But. So anyway, we drove by and I couldn't believe my eyes. There were lines around the block the first day, so I couldn't figure it out.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, what was the promotion that got the. Got that amount of interest going? I was too young to really notice it, but how do you think they accrued that much interest in it without the posters and stuff?

[Mark Hamill]

Well, they did a poster, but I think Hildebrand was the artist. And they depict. Depicted Luke as like six two and ripped with, you know, muscles and, you know, didn't look anything like me, and.

[Jason Bateman]

I didn't even audition.

[Will Arnett]

But yeah, you know, you know, but you know what's funny though, that what a great example again, once again, of how fucking lucky the suits got. Oh, yeah, and, and, and they kind of got in their own way and couldn't agree on a poster and who are so quick to rush to. To take credit for and blah, blah, blah.

[Sean Hayes]

And I know the merits of it that, that gave it a chance, and.

[Will Arnett]

It was the merits of the, of the, of the picture itself that got it to where and created this thing. And how quickly do you think, Mark, those same people who decided that they couldn't figure out to put a fucking poster or whatever, how quickly do you think they took credit at dinner that night or the next week or at a lunch with other.

[Mark Hamill]

Fucking absurd. Isn't that the way? Because they really didn't see any potential. And they, you know, we didn't.

[Will Arnett]

Of course, of course they did.

[Mark Hamill]

Really prepared to dump it, but, you know, George had made a graffiti at Universal and the head of Universal wanted to dump it on the second half of a double bill. And it was only Francis Ford Coppola that went to him and said, look, you've got to give this a chance. Because they were mad because they spent so much money to get the rights to all the music, all the vintage rock and roll. But to think that American Graffiti could have been just thrown away and they never learned.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

We'll be right back. One of the hardest parts about B2B marketing is reaching the right audience. You put so much effort into a campaign only for it to get wasted on the wrong people. It's like trying to sell a data farm to a dairy farmer. You know, that's where LinkedIn ads come in. Fortunately, LinkedIn is a network of over 1 billion businessy people who might actually be interested in your business. You can even target your buyers by job title, industry, company role, seniority, skills or company revenue. So stop wasting budget on the wrong audience and start targeting the right professionals with LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn will even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign so you can try it yourself. Just go to LinkedIn.com smartlist that's LinkedIn.com smartless terms and conditions apply only on LinkedIn ads.

[Jason Bateman]

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[Sean Hayes]

Hey, what had John Williams done before he did Jaws? Before?

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, my God, he did so much.

[Sean Hayes]

No, but before Jaw, he did Lost in Space.

[Jason Bateman]

He did.

[Mark Hamill]

He was billed as Johnny Williams. And he did a lot of Universal television shows. I mean, we were so lucky.

[Jason Bateman]

He did Gilligan's Island.

[Mark Hamill]

Aside from. Aside from George, I think he's probably more responsible for the success of that film than any other single person. Because when I remember Gary Kurtz, the producer, picked me up to go to another dubbing session, he said, oh, I just got the. The. The score from. You know, I was over in London with. When he put it on, you guys, I'm telling you.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Mark Hamill]

I felt tears streaming down my. Exactly. I want to. Also wanted to finish the story about me reading it for the first time. Remember?

[Will Arnett]

Yes.

[Mark Hamill]

I got it without reading a script. Yeah, I just had read that one.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, sorry. Keep going. Yeah.

[Mark Hamill]

Well, here's the thing. When I. When I open to the first page, it said, the Adventures of Luke starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Wills Saga, Number one, the Star Wars. And I'm thinking, wait a minute. Wasn't I Luke? No, I guess Harrison was Luke. Cause I figured he was a traditional leading man. He was 35 or whatever, and he was Harrison Ford. Come on. So I started to read this thing, and in the very beginning, I realized, oh, my God, this is seen through the eyes of this teenage farm boy. I mean, that was unusual in and of itself. You'd think it'd probably be through the eyes of Han Solo, but, I mean, that's the journey that.

[Jason Bateman]

Give us a little bit of Harrison's reaction when he read the script.

[Mark Hamill]

By the way, Sean, I have to tell you, after I didn't say, oh, I'm going to go do an impression of Harrison Ford. I was on Seth Meyers, and I was just relaying a story that happened to us when we were on the Death Star. We were midday, and I said, wait a second. This scene takes place after we were in the trash compactor, which we hadn't filmed yet, or maybe we had, because I said, shouldn't I have, like, some schmutz and messy hair and polystyrene in my. In my hair? And he goes, hey, kid, it ain't that kind of movie, if anybody's looking at your hair, we're all in big trouble. And I went, boy, is he right.

[Sean Hayes]

He's so right.

[Mark Hamill]

You know, I told him, I said, you know, you really make a great director if you weren't so lazy. Because he knows his part and he knows everybody, and he'll give you suggestions. They're all gold. I just idolized him. I mean, when he walked in the door the first time. Cause I went back after doing this stuff in Africa. Harrison came first, and he comes on the soundstage, you know, in his Han Solo gear. And I just. I'd already liked him in the Conversation and American Graffiti anyway. But, I mean, I just was. The relationship was real because I idolized him. I looked at him as a mentor or an older brother and all that.

[Will Arnett]

So he was so fucking cool with the vest and shit.

[Mark Hamill]

And when I read it, I thought, oh, my God, why don't I ever get the part of the womanizing gambler and scoundrel? You know, I'm just like, oh, I'm going to Tati Station. What?

[Will Arnett]

I did a thing for Vanity Fair once, and they said, you can do any, you know, any sort of character from a film, blah, blah, blah. And I went as Harrison Ford from Star Wars.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, wow.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, because I was like, yeah, he was like. He was a cowboy. You know what I mean?

[Jason Bateman]

Speaking of that. Speaking of that, you must know, Mark, that. That these guys know Scotty. My husband is as big a fan. Bigger as I am. I mean, we've. You know.

[Will Arnett]

How far off camera is he right now?

[Jason Bateman]

He's. He might be coming on right this second as. It's because he has a couple. He's dressed as Kylo Ren. Dressed as Kylo Ren.

[Sean Hayes]

Scotty and the Kylo Ren.

[Mark Hamill]

More royalties for George Lucas.

[Jason Bateman]

Luke is very busy, so Scotty's got, like, a couple.

[Mark Hamill]

Hi, Scott.

[Sean Hayes]

He's been waiting, waiting.

[E]

I've been sitting here for, like, an hour.

[Mark Hamill]

You know, my mom told me, she said, when you were born, I couldn't decide on a name. It was between Mark and Scott. And they said, if you don't decide right now, we're just gonna put baby Hamill on the birth certificate. So she literally flipped a coin. And of course, when she tells you that at age 7, you go, oh, Scott's so much a cooler name.

[Sean Hayes]

You should have Scott.

[Mark Hamill]

You always want. We don't have. Right.

[Jason Bateman]

But I'm. I'm a big fan, but Scotty's like, a mega, mega fan. All right, go and he's got a couple questions.

[Will Arnett]

Hang on, hang on. First of all, welcome to Smartless.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, I think this is Scotty's debut.

[Will Arnett]

On the proper podcast.

[E]

On the proper podcast. I may. I may have been seen in the background, but that's an ogle. Mark, it's such an honor to meet you.

[Mark Hamill]

I mean, thank you.

[E]

It goes without saying, as such a huge fan, I am, but I think my question really is at what point when everything was done, the film was done, it was completed and it was about to come out and all of that. I know the typical question is, did you know it was going to be a hit? Of course nobody knows it's going to be a hit. Anything's going to be a hit. It's not up to us. But. But when did you have that visceral sort of reaction like we all had, or did you ever have it like audiences had, where you realized, oh, this is something bigger than all of us. This is undeniable.

[Mark Hamill]

There was a moment and it was we. They sent the three of us, Carrie, Harrison and me on to promote it and we did. Vancouver. I don't think it had opened. And then it opened and. And when we came into Chicago, I looked outside the plane and I saw massive crowds and I said, hey, you guys, there's somebody famous on this plane. We were looking around to see if like there was a big sports star or whatever. And then as we got closer, I said, hey, Carrie, look, that girl has buns on. She's got the Princess Laba. Harrison. That guy's got the vest and everything. Somebody had made a Luke tunic out of a pillowcase. There were people dressed like us and we all looked at each show like, whoa, that's above and beyond. I mean, you want it to be a successful movie, but when you see.

[Will Arnett]

People then role playing, especially 50 years later, right? I mean, it's like, hey, like a grown man. Go ahead. Next question.

[E]

Scotty, listen, I'm here to give Sean a break from the harassment.

[Jason Bateman]

It's now for me.

[Mark Hamill]

Well, listen, I have to tell you, it's a double edged sword because what'll happen is, and this has been happening for 20, 30 years, the kids that were little when it came out are now parents of their own. And you'll be in an airport or something and you know, a five or six year old, they think we made Star wars two weeks ago. I mean, 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 be, you know, the parents will gesture to a 55 year old me and go, hey, kids, look who it is. It's Luke Skywalker. And they look at this, look at me in horror, like, God, what happened to this guy? He really let himself go.

[Sean Hayes]

Great makeup artist in the movie.

[Mark Hamill]

Yeah, exactly.

[Jason Bateman]

So, so wait. So Scotty, do you have another question before you take off?

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, Jesus Christ.

[E]

No, I, I didn't realize I'd be by.

[Jason Bateman]

No, you can hang out. I didn't know if you wanted to.

[E]

No, I would love to.

[Will Arnett]

Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on one second. Let me just say. Scotty, Scotty, I don't think that Sean meant that. I think that what he meant to say, like he didn't know if you had more. Sean, I got this. And then. Sean, Sean, look at Scotty and tell him what you meant to say.

[Jason Bateman]

What I meant to say was I didn't know if you had to go somewhere and I didn't want to keep you on the.

[Will Arnett]

Where the fuck does he have to go? Be honest. I mean, what are you talking about?

[Jason Bateman]

This is great.

[Sean Hayes]

And now, Scott, how are you feeling? No, no, look at Sean and you tell him how you're feeling.

[E]

Oh, I'm feeling wonderful and thank you for the opportunity. It's a pleasure to be here. And I.

[Sean Hayes]

Well, our hour is.

[Will Arnett]

Glad that Mark could be here for two of the biggest Star wars fans in the world. That Mark, you could see them working in couples therapy. In couples therapy.

[Mark Hamill]

We owe everything to the fans. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be anywhere.

[Will Arnett]

Wait, Scotty, Scotty, you have to have one last burning desire question.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, Something. What about Norway with the Empire Strikes Back and the snow? Remember we were talking about that?

[E]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Wasn't there. I could have this wrong, but wasn't there a thing where you guys were, you know, where you were in Norway was. It was just absolutely treacherous with all the snow. And I think you guys were scheduled to go shoot somewhere or whatever it was, but it was so bad. Then you just went out the back.

[Mark Hamill]

Door and did exactly. Here's what happened. They had, you know, our luck was terrible. We had rainstorms in Tunisia that cost us. We had to shut down. Then we go to Norway. It was like the coldest winter in, I don't know, 11 billion years, whatever it was. And they had found a glacier which was about an hour and a half from where we were staying. And we would take. We were meant to go on snow buggies because it Photographed on camera. It photographed blue. And I remember now this is the days before a lot of cgi. Everything was practical in those days. So the day arrives for us to go to this blue glacier. And they said, it's impossible. I mean, if we go there, it'll be whited out from the blizzard. So like you say, it was Han Solo rescuing Luke in the snow after getting hit by the wampa. And if you turn the camera around, there's people on the balcony sipping cocoa, watching us.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, wow.

[Mark Hamill]

We're about 100 yards from the back of the hotel.

[Jason Bateman]

That's crazy.

[Sean Hayes]

This is where you cut the belly open on the thing and you got inside. Yes, exactly.

[Mark Hamill]

That is so. They were all enjoying it. But it's funny now because, you know, in those days there wasn't so much security. In other words, when I read Star Wars, I just blew my mind. And I said, oh, my God, I've got to get my friend Jonathan to read this. My best friend Jonathan worked down at the LA Art Museum. And I passed it to him and he. And he read it. He said, yeah, I don't know how they're going to do this or what it is, really. He goes, can I give it to Meredith? I said, yeah, sure. So we passed it all around. All my friends read it. It was before everything was coded with the name on it. Watermelon, where you have to protect it with your life. But it was just a different time. And like I say, I had a blast. I mean, one thing that hit me, I said, you know what I love about this is you can take from it what you want. In other words, it's effortlessly feminist. The princess is anything but a shrinking violet. She takes over her own rescue, makes Han and Luke look like a couple of chumps. You call as a rescue. Give me that gun. She's standing up to Vader nose to nose and, you know, really giving him.

[Sean Hayes]

Right.

[Mark Hamill]

So what I'm saying is that is just accepted and it's ahead of its time.

[Sean Hayes]

How long was the shoot? Do you remember that?

[Mark Hamill]

Yeah, it was like. I think it was scheduled for 10 weeks, and we went 12.

[Jason Bateman]

Wow, that's crazy.

[Mark Hamill]

But that was. I mean, that was Star wars on Empire. It was crazy because we was scheduled for three months, four months. Everybody wrapped and went home, and I was still the only human being on the call sheet. There was a puppet, a robot, various snakes and lizards, and one human being because they built Dagobah on a soundstage at El Street. And, you know, I mean, it's amazing that we could get away with that. Because I was reading the script, I said, how are they going to do Yoda? Is it going to be. Is it going to be, you know, stop frame animation or whatever? I didn't know it was going to be a puppet, but I'm telling you, Frank Oz is such an artist, when he puts that thing on, you're just there, you know, it was so real to me. And he was always breaking down. The eyes would go cockeye, the ears wouldn't work. So they had like a stand in, which was just a foam mold of his face, you know, with a piece of blue tape where his eyes are supposed to be. And so every time you see me in a single talking to him, he's not there. But I can, I can be a Jedi. I'm saying, to this foam rubber. But again, Frank Oz, I mean, he's. I saw we're the Best of Friends. What is it? All these years later, he's just one of my favorite people in the business and so talented.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, it's so amazing. Scotty, Scotty, before you go, now I'm saying before you go, before you go, before you go, do you want to do your Yoda impression for Mark?

[Mark Hamill]

Oh, yes, let's hear it.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, no, I'm kidding.

[E]

I'm sure it's never been done.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, there you go. There you go. That was great. That's great.

[Sean Hayes]

That was pretty good. Very good now.

[E]

Thank you, guys. Thank you so much.

[Jason Bateman]

Thanks, Scotty. I'll see you.

[Sean Hayes]

Thank you, Scotty.

[Mark Hamill]

That happens all the time. I was on CNN and Jim Acosta did a Yoda impression on yo, right? So everybody, everybody reverts to their 9 year old nerd self.

[Jason Bateman]

Yes, yes, absolutely.

[Will Arnett]

Because it's like unlike anything else. Everybody on the planet has seen it and knows what it is. Think about that.

[Mark Hamill]

That's strange. And I have to tell you, when I read it, I thought, you know, this is. I am so there. I mean, even if I had not got the part, I would be dying to see this movie. That's how I felt about it.

[Will Arnett]

Do you remember? You know, I love that story that you talk about on Empire where everybody, you know, if the camera were to turn around, they'd see people sipping cocoa on the deck. Do you look at certain scenes from over the years, from over all the movies and go like, well, I've done this before. But you go like, I remember I was really sick that day. Like, you watch the take and you go, oh, yeah, that was the day I ate the bad fish.

[Sean Hayes]

Or that was the first scene we shot or the last scene we shot.

[Mark Hamill]

You know, I. I saw them when they came out, but I. I don't go back and see them again. In fact, when they did the reissue with the special editions, when they called me, I said, oh, yeah, if you can send me a copy, I'd like to see it. When my kids heard about it, they said, are you kidding? You're not going to go see it in the theater? I said, why do you guys want to see it? You've seen it a bazillion times on. On video, they said, but never on a big screen. So I did. I saw. I saw Empire and the first one, Empire and Jedi once in the theater, but I haven't seen him again since. And the same with the sequels. You see him and then you just move on.

[Sean Hayes]

Wait, you. You've seen Star Wars, Empire and Jedi only once in the movie theaters and never again. No.

[Mark Hamill]

Yeah, I don't watch them on video, to tell you the truth. And there's. There's. That's. There's a certain disconnect because the fans have seen them not only far more recently, but many, many, many, many, many more times than I have. So they'll ask me questions where I go, wait a second. Cause this is. Did we go to the planet? They go, well, it's not in a movie. It's in Splinter of the Mind's Eye. It's a novel by Harry Dean Fox. So 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. Nathan said it was multiple choice. What kind of.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, I was gonna ask you when the last time was that you saw the first one.

[Mark Hamill]

Star wars would have been 97, because it was the 20th anniversary of the. When it first came out. But, I mean, the question's like, what was Han Solo smuggling? A, jewelry, B, units, C, it was spices. And who knows? The. I mean, the minutia that these people have, it's really astonishing. Astonishing. And I hate to disappoint people if I go to these.

[Will Arnett]

Didn't they have spice on Dune, too?

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

What's with the spices in space?

[Jason Bateman]

Well, people, like I said, it's a.

[Will Arnett]

Real hot commodity in space. You, you know, get some tarragon up in space, you're in the highest of cotton. Yeah, go ahead.

[Jason Bateman]

What is the craziest fan interaction you've had?

[Will Arnett]

Oh, God.

[Jason Bateman]

Like, you have, like, besides today with Scotty?

[Mark Hamill]

Well, number one, don't sign body parts.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, boy.

[Mark Hamill]

No good can come from that. Okay.

[Jason Bateman]

Noted for the most part.

[Mark Hamill]

You know what it's like. I mean.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mark Hamill]

When. When it all happened and went crazy, we were sort of in the center of the storm, so it seemed like everybody was going nuts around us. We weren't going nuts.

[Jason Bateman]

Right, right, right.

[Mark Hamill]

But it was a different time. I mean, you'd have people just proposition you. Like, really?

[Will Arnett]

Yeah.

[Mark Hamill]

Come on back.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

And we will be right back.

[Jason Bateman]

If you're driving right now, look around. All those cars you see. Yeah. They're all probably on autotrader.com autotrader has the largest selection of new cars. Used cars, electric cars, even flying cars. Okay, no flying cars yet. But as soon as those get invented, they'll be on Autotrader. Did you know, did you know that more people visit Autotrader to shop for cars? Not only do they have supercharged search features, AutoTrader has Kelley Blue Book. My wallet. From credit scores to down payments to interest rates, car buying requires a lot of math. My wallet on Autotrader helps you know exactly how much you'll pay each month for your car so you never have to do car math again. You're welcome. So whether you're into timeless classics or the latest trends. Did somebody say solar powered, eco friendly, self driving car? Or whether you want something practical with no surprise cost, if you see a car you like, find it on Autotrader.

[Will Arnett]

Have you met Allmodern? Allmodern thinks making your home modern with fresh furniture and decor should be easy. That's why their team of modern obsessed experts hand vets each design for quality. Plus, Allmodern's fast and free shipping lets you upgrade your your home in days, not weeks. So whether you're updating your living room or reimagining your dining area, All Modern has the very best of modern all in one place. That's modern made for real life. Shop [e-mail].

[Jason Bateman]

So if you're anything like me, on my laptop, on my desktop, on my laptop, it's just full of open windows and like icons and stuff like that. And it gets really, really messy and it's hard to focus. Sometimes I need to get a little bit more organized because my time like your time, I'm guessing. And expertise are valuable. And with professionals spending nearly half the work week on written communication, focus is one of the most important things to have at work. With Grammarly as your AI writing partner, you can stay focused and get through your work faster with relevant real time Suggestions wherever you write. It's awesome. Grammarly helps with any writing, from brainstorming to sounding more confident and persuasive at work. 90% of professionals say Grammarly has saved them time writing and editing their work. And four out of five professionals say Grammarly helps them gain, buy in and action through their communication experience. The gold standard of responsible AI with Grammarly. For 15 years, Grammarly has helped professionals do more with their writing. You can trust that your data is secure and never sold. So I've used it because, look, this is called smart list. But Grammarly helps us be a tiny bit smarter because when I'm writing something, I'll use it to think of a smarter word that I'm not thinking of or can't think of. And just like that, voila. I'm like, I sound smarter than I am. Get more done with Grammarly. Download Grammarly for [e-mail] podcast. That's Grammarly.com podcast. And back to the show.

[Will Arnett]

Somebody asked me recently, they said, if you had a time machine and you could go back to any time to live, what would it be? And I said, late 70s California. Yeah, because it feels like it was like a. Just like a kind of unregulated, just kind of a constant sunset, good time party, no rules, kind of.

[Sean Hayes]

It was crazy.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, it was great, man. Well, you were 9. But mark you as somebody who was like, at the pinnacle of the film industry in that time, it must have been a lot of fun.

[Mark Hamill]

Yeah, it was. But you always try and say, I haven't changed. Everybody else is going bonkers. But, you know, you want to hang on to that. And plus you. I immediately tried to throw myself into things because I wanted to do character parts. I wasn't getting them. You know how these guys, you do one thing well, they want you to do the same thing over and over again again. So I went to New York and I was able to do character parts. It wasn't until I discovered animation when I went, oh, where's this been all my life? Because they cast with their ears, not their eyes, and you're able to play all these parts. You'd never get on camera.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, you're like such a superstar voiceover actor now. It's incredible.

[Mark Hamill]

I'm too short to be the Joker. You know, he's six two or what? I'm, you know, I'm five, nine at best.

[Jason Bateman]

But wait a minute. This is. This is. This is you as the joker, which is fucking crazy. It's incredible because now there's a Teeny.

[Mark Hamill]

Little bit of me in you too, Bats. Why aren't you laughing?

[Will Arnett]

Wow, that's incredible.

[Mark Hamill]

That's from Arkham Asylum. And you know, I had done the role for however long the first iteration came in. There's so many good jokers after me. Kevin Michael Richardson and Jeff Bennett.

[Jason Bateman]

No, you're one of the most iconic ones now. It's incredible.

[Mark Hamill]

But what I'm saying is when we got to the video. Cause I mean, I get mail in the original incarnation saying, why doesn't the Joker kill more people? And you have to say, it's a children's cartoon. There's the standards and practices. There was a list of things that you could not do. You could not punch someone directly in the face. You couldn't throw someone through a plate glass window. No nudity, no liquor, no drugs, et cetera. Somebody made a drawing. Bruce Timm made a drawing of Batman flying through a glass window with a gin bottle and a hypodermic needle and a girl, you know, bare chested. He broke all the rules in one. But when, by the time we got to the video games, which is, I don't know, I'm bad on time these days, but 10, 15, 20 years later, because Kevin Conroy was always my Batman.

[Will Arnett]

Okay, that's what I was going to ask you. Who your Batman was? Yeah, Kevin Conroy.

[Mark Hamill]

When Kevin passed, I said, this is a time for me not to do it anymore because. Because I got to the point where my agent would call and they say they want you for Joker. I'd say, is Kevin doing it? If they said yes, I'd say, then I'm in. I wouldn't even have to read it. But what I couldn't get used to was the video games because they were for 16 and older and people did die. I mean, there was. I'm looking at going, can we say this? Much more sophisticated than the early stuff.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

[Mark Hamill]

But I want to ask you a question, Sean.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Mark Hamill]

Because one of the things I miss about living in New York, because we had apartment there for 19 years, is seeing theater. And I would have loved to have seen you play Oscar Levant, because I could see it. I could see your face morphing into that character.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, so long. Oscar was such a good. Oh, dude.

[Mark Hamill]

And when I was a kid, I mean, in the summertime, I could stay up past my bedtime and watch Twilight Zone and Dick Van Dyke and all the shows I loved. And I saw. I used to watch Jack Parr and Steve Allen and Oscar Levan fascinated me. As a kid, because he was effortlessly witty, but he had all these ticks and nervous tics and the smoking and all of it.

[Jason Bateman]

And I thought, oh, thanks.

[Mark Hamill]

Well, you know. But I thought you.

[Jason Bateman]

Well, I'm gonna do it again in London in next summer, but just for a limited time. If you find yourself out that way.

[Mark Hamill]

I'll keep that in mind. I'll keep that in mind.

[Will Arnett]

Sean, What a mind blow. If you go and you're doing a play that you want a Tony for, which, again, sorry, just a quick. Yeah, you wanted Tony for it. And then you get to go and you do it on the West End of London.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

And you've just invited Mark Hamill.

[Jason Bateman]

I know.

[Mark Hamill]

To come see you.

[Will Arnett]

No, it's true.

[Mark Hamill]

Mark.

[Will Arnett]

This is big for him.

[Sean Hayes]

This is a big circle.

[Jason Bateman]

This is huge.

[Will Arnett]

Big for anybody, but it's big.

[Mark Hamill]

I had a rule with a stage manager. I said, don't tell me who's out front. Because what happened was, I came in and everyone said, you know who's in the audience? Jackie Gleason. Because Harrigan and Hart had been pitched to Gleason and Carney in the 60s. And it didn't happen for whatever reason. But he. You know, he's really familiar with that era and that music and all of it. So, I mean, it. It was something I wish I had not known because you want to be totally there. You don't want to be thinking, oh, what did Jackie think of that?

[Jason Bateman]

Right, right. For sure. For sure. And sometimes, you know, you can't have. You can't help it. Because other cast members would be like, did you hear Meryl Streep's in the audience?

[Mark Hamill]

Yeah. I mean, it's terrible. So, I mean, they would tell me when I could come home. They'd hand me a note, and I'd see, you know, who was there. But, yeah, that must have been my. Probably easier for you to do Levant than doing someone as recognizable as Jerry Lewis. And you just killed it.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, thanks.

[Will Arnett]

You know what? You know what? He was. Let me put it this way. My review was. It was Oscar Levant, just as I remember him.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, God. That's what my dad wrote. Okay, so anyway, so. I can't believe you remember that. Did you.

[Mark Hamill]

Did Will and Jason meet on Arrested Development? Is that where you guys.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, we did.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, we did.

[Mark Hamill]

By the way, I'm so mad they cancelled that. Everything I like gets cancelled.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Mark Hamill]

And I hold grudges for. I'm still mad they canceled Square Pegs, and that was 1982.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, my God. Remember that?

[Mark Hamill]

Yeah. Bill.

[Sean Hayes]

Jessica Parker never would have done Sex in the City.

[Mark Hamill]

There you go.

[Sean Hayes]

Buffalo.

[Mark Hamill]

Buffalo Bill with Dabney Coleman Kuchi's department.

[Will Arnett]

Mark, I got a question for you. When you said you.

[Jason Bateman]

You.

[Will Arnett]

You were. You had done the pilot, you got fired from 8 is enough. Is that what happened? You and. Or they. You got.

[Mark Hamill]

No, they just. They redid it with like I say, a different father.

[Will Arnett]

Right.

[Mark Hamill]

They.

[Jason Bateman]

Well, that's. We call that fire.

[Mark Hamill]

Yeah, okay.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, sure.

[Mark Hamill]

I was tired.

[Will Arnett]

But what year, like how soon after that did Star wars happen?

[Mark Hamill]

Well, I think, yeah, it was probably six months later or something.

[Will Arnett]

So what's crazy about it is the reason I bring it up, and I've talked about this before is six months before I got the pilot for Arrested Development that changed my life. I got let go from a show. They replaced my character, actually. They just wrote him out. And at the time I was like, oh, I was a series regular on a. On a sitcom. I was going to make money and all this kind of shit. And I got so bat. And six months later, I didn't know that the universe had made space for me to have to do the thing that would change my life. And so it's very. Some now I didn't become a global superstar the way you did, but.

[Mark Hamill]

No, no, but.

[Will Arnett]

But still, it like was the thing that really propelled me and gave me, you know, a career.

[Mark Hamill]

I had a similar thing happen. I got a part on the Texas Wheelers with Jack Elam, you know, that cockeyed character actor from Western. Now when he did support your local sheriff, support your local gunfire, then he got to show his comedy chops. And this pilot was an irreverent. It was like the anti Waltons. Gary Busey was the titular head of the family because Jack comes back in the pilot having been in jail for stealing a car or whatever. But my character, Doobie. Doobie Wheeler was. What I loved about it was he was hilarious, but he was so serious about himself. He took himself very seriously, thought he was a womanizer, even though he was a virgin. All these things. It was really for its time in 1974, I remember the New York Times said, possibly the finest bucolic comedy since Tobacco Road. And I said, oh, man. Not only is this a breakout part, but it's a comedy part because for most part I was playing real straightforward high school students and that kind of stuff. So I was really jazzed. And it came out and we made 13 episode. It got canceled after four episodes. And I was devastated because I said, I'M not going to get another good part like this.

[Sean Hayes]

Wow.

[Mark Hamill]

I just don't see it happening. I was really, really depressed. But the upshot is if that had run, then I wouldn't have been able to do Star Wars.

[Will Arnett]

Exactly. That's my point.

[Sean Hayes]

We would have had friends. Freddy Krueger out there swinging around a lightsaber.

[Will Arnett]

I mean, and that would have been. Imagine all the scratch marks on Vader's cage.

[Mark Hamill]

No, actually it would have been Will Seltzer. Oh, yeah, and Terry Nunn from. She was in a band. Oh, I can't remember.

[Will Arnett]

Terry Nunn.

[Mark Hamill]

Terry Nunn. She was in. Not Joy Division. I don't know you Google it. But I mean, it was like, I say it was cast as a set, not There was no mixing and matching.

[Jason Bateman]

Right.

[Sean Hayes]

You came as a package.

[Will Arnett]

Berlin. She's the singer from Berlin.

[Mark Hamill]

That's it.

[Will Arnett]

The band Berlin.

[Mark Hamill]

Thank you.

[Jason Bateman]

You know, Mark, I have, as I always say with my guests that I bring on that I have 7,000 questions. But I wanted to, you know, we gotta let you go. Cause it's been an hour and we promised we'd only have you for an hour here. So the, you know, all the stuff I wanted to ask you about just like, you know, coming back to the Force Awakens and what Was that with J.J. abrams? But anyway, we'll talk about that at dinner sometime. Hopefully. Hopefully. But I watched football. The House of Usher. I thought you were incredible. You have the Life of Chuck coming out on Netflix, which looks so good. You have the Long Walk, another. That Stephen King movie that comes out in 2025, which is. That looks incredible. And you've been getting all these accolades for the Wild Robot. The whole.

[Mark Hamill]

I'm in the new. I'm in the new SpongeBob SquarePants movie.

[Jason Bateman]

You're in the new SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.

[Mark Hamill]

Have you seen Wild Robot? I mean, it's funny. Bring it up. Now that we're wrapping up.

[Will Arnett]

I have. I've seen it with. It's so great.

[Jason Bateman]

I heard it's fantastic.

[Mark Hamill]

Look, I read the book, this book by Peter Brown. There's a reason it was the number one bestseller in the New York Times and won all these awards. It is so perfect that I thought, please don't mess this up. If they can capture even 20% of the charm of this book were on a winner. And they kept the illustrations the exact same as in the book. The cast is beyond great.

[Will Arnett]

I was reading the book to the kids. To the kids. Yeah. It's amazing, but it's so Effortless.

[Mark Hamill]

Listen, it's so meaningful in this time about tolerance and joining together for the greater good.

[Will Arnett]

That's where they lost me. Well, yeah, to be honest, if I'm being real, that's where they seem very.

[Mark Hamill]

Timely, you know, given what we're going through.

[Jason Bateman]

It's a huge hit and it's like getting recognized, which is great.

[Will Arnett]

It's very.

[Mark Hamill]

It's really, really so lucky. I'm so.

[Sean Hayes]

Mark. I just say, just for me, you just. You're such a delight. And I'm sorry. Excited that you're such a delight. Because myself, like so many people my age, you're such a part of just who we are and who we wanted to be. And the fact that you have maintained such a. Such a kindness and a warmth and a decency in your. In your person and a willingness to just. It's such a relief. And thank you for. Thank you for saying that.

[Mark Hamill]

But I have to tell you, these people, when they come up to you, you know, and. And talk about it, they put it in such personal terms, you know, that it helped me get through my father's divorce or, you know, whatever it is. I never get tired of it. It's like, no, no, let's not talk about that again. I want to hear what they have to say. You know, I think at this point, since I'm sort of soft, focus on the details. Cause I haven't seen him that much. And really. Luke had a light presence in the sequels. He did a. A silent cameo in the first one and a cameo in the last one. So I only had that middle part. But what I'm saying is it's. It's something that I don't take for granted. And I think how lucky I am because people say, oh, aren't you sorry that you're remembered for nothing but Luke? When in fact, I never expected to be remembered for anything. I just wanted a job.

[Jason Bateman]

I mean, that.

[Will Arnett]

What. What an absurd. What a. What an absurd thing. If anybody actually says that. What an absolutely absurd fucking thing.

[Sean Hayes]

The most famous film in the history of entertainment.

[Will Arnett]

And like you said, it's that connection. And I was. I'm going to echo what Jason said. For a kid who grew up in Toronto and saw it the first time at the. What was it? The Pleasant Theater on Mount Pleasant in Toronto, in the city. For me to be here all these years later talking to you, the impact.

[Sean Hayes]

But that what you person too, is just.

[Will Arnett]

And then on top of it, you're a great dude. Is really. Is really something.

[Mark Hamill]

And I appreciate Sean Mentioning Fall of the House of Usher because I'm used to doing really bizarre and atypical roles in animation. This is the first time Mike Flanagan asked me to do a character that would have been routine in animation. On camera.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, it was. So I thought you were this guy.

[Mark Hamill]

Who is this soulless, evil sociopath. Naturally, they thought of me. I'm so grateful to Mike Flanagan.

[Jason Bateman]

But we watched it. I just love that you were. You knocked it out of the park. I loved you in that part. It was so unexpected and absolutely thrilling to watch.

[Mark Hamill]

And it was really one of those things where when I read it, I thought, how am I going to do this? I usually have a slight concept of what is required of your character to make the whole thing work. And it was a huge ensemble. Mike does these wonderful, you know, haunting of Hill House, Haunting, Blind Manor, Midnight. So I was a huge fan of his. And I thought, even though I don't know how to do this, if he thinks I can do it, then, by gosh, I'm gonna do it. But it was really scary because when I was flying up Vancouver, I still had no idea. And little by little, his wardrobe helped me pick out his wardrobe. As I said to the hair people, this guy wants to get out of bed in the morning. Just draw his with one swipe of the towel. So cut it short enough so it just lays down. It doesn't stick. Just lies down. Then they found the glasses, they found the hat. And the last thing that came, which was really interesting because we didn't discuss it, but we were doing a scene in the Roderick and Madeline usher's office. And I said, how do I convey that this guy is completely dead inside? And I just started talking like this. Well, I called him. He didn't call us back. I got a guy looking out for him. I didn't discuss it at the time, and I didn't say, I'm going to go in and do this voice. I just end the moment, said, should I do it? And I did. And after we did a couple of setups later in the day, Mark, Mike walked past me and just said, love the voice.

[Jason Bateman]

Yes.

[Mark Hamill]

And I said, I'm home.

[Jason Bateman]

So great. You became a completely different person. I love that.

[Mark Hamill]

Yes. And that's so rare, you know, how exciting it is to let that someone thinks outside the box of what you're known for. And I'm really lucky. And then I again, he cast me in a small part in the Life of Chuck, which again, he said, I'm gonna send you this script based on A Stephen King novella, and there's a part for you in it and blah, blah, blah. So I'm expecting, okay, you got Stephen King, you've got Mike Flanagan. This is gonna be the horror epic of all time. I'm telling you guys. It is the sweetest, poignant, warm story of a boy named Chuck. At four different stages of his life, he grows up to be Tom Hiddleston, but it's so atypical of both of them. And I said to them when we made it, I said to Trevor Macy, the producer, I said, I don't know how we're going to promote this because it's indescribable. I mean, you have to see it to get it.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, I can't wait to see it.

[Mark Hamill]

It's amazing. And, you know, I saw it at his house once, just in a little room. But when I saw it at the Toronto Film Festival with an audience, it was a revelation because it wasn't in competition, but it voted favorite film because the audience becomes such a part of it that things that you didn't expect to get reactions got reactions. They laughed, they applauded, people were in tears. I mean, it's really special.

[Sean Hayes]

What's that one called?

[Mark Hamill]

It's called the Life of Chuck and it's told backwards. It's Act 3, Act 2, Act 1. And I'm only in Act 1 at the end of the picture. But Tom is great. The. This boy that plays him at age 12, Benjamin Pajak. Remember that name. Cause this kid, he can sing, he dances, he played. He was the Ron Howard part in the revival of Music man on Broadway, Hugh Jackman. And I'm telling you, I mean, I just. I wish he were my real grandson. He's just phenomenal.

[Will Arnett]

I can't wait to see it.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, that.

[Mark Hamill]

And that comes out in May. May.

[Jason Bateman]

Fantastic. And then. And the long walk. I can't wait. Because that's the long walk.

[Mark Hamill]

And by the way, I read that. I'm thinking, ugh, this, because I always read the books before they even seen the script. It's excruciating. It's so horrible.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah. 100 teenage boys are forced to participate, like, in an annual thing where they have to walk at a constant pace or they get killed. Right. Or something like that.

[Mark Hamill]

Yeah. There's people ready to shoot them in the head. I mean, I'm telling you, so gross. I thought, there's no way. I mean, I'll watch it maybe, but I can't do something like this. And again, my son read and said, are you Nuts. This is fantastic. You gotta do it.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mark Hamill]

But just the violence, the gun violence alone. Now, luckily it's now they do it cgi, where you don't have to do squibs. And everybody goes, right, right, right. Gets cleaned up after each take. Cause the bug goes flying. But I mean, it is really gross.

[Jason Bateman]

I love that. I love it. Well, you got a lot of good stuff coming up. And by the way, if you have any Star wars memorabilia you want to get rid of, please send it over.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah.

[Mark Hamill]

And when specifically are you going to do Oscar in London?

[Jason Bateman]

July through September at Barbican Theater.

[Mark Hamill]

Like three months.

[Jason Bateman]

Like. Yeah. Well, no, seven weeks.

[Mark Hamill]

Okay, seven weeks.

[Jason Bateman]

The end of July.

[Sean Hayes]

Sounds like fun. Summer in England.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

Mark, it's been an honor and privilege to talk to you. I echo what these guys say. I just can't even believe I'm talking to you. This is.

[Mark Hamill]

Well, when I listened to you guys do with Steve Martin and Martin Short, I said, well, after this, I've got to be a let down. Nobody can top those two.

[Jason Bateman]

It was one of the best.

[Sean Hayes]

You hit the peak, sir.

[Will Arnett]

Incredible.

[Sean Hayes]

Thank you for joining us, Mark.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah. If you ever get hungry, call me. I'll have a meal. Bye.

[Sean Hayes]

Thanks, Mark.

[Mark Hamill]

What a kind man you are.

[Sean Hayes]

Bye, buddy. Bye.

[Jason Bateman]

Bye, man. I mean, well.

[Sean Hayes]

Sean, you going to be all right? You need to mop? You need to towel off or.

[Jason Bateman]

Yes, I do. I was sweating a little bit the whole time.

[Sean Hayes]

I mean, my Lord.

[Jason Bateman]

What? Isn't that crazy? He was supposed to come on for a long time and now what? Just could. Now what? I know. I'm done.

[Will Arnett]

You said, Mark, that. I mean, I guess, Har. You can make your way through the cast. Of course. Harrison would be amazing.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah. Carrie would be hard to book. I'm sure she would like that.

[Will Arnett]

You want to say cut that now or. No, she would love it.

[Jason Bateman]

She would love that joke. But I didn't even get to ask him about the fact that actors, we kind of measure our lives in milestone of jobs. We all talk about. I was doing this at that time and this. And for him, Star wars never. There's no end to that milestone. He reprised Luke on Mandalorian with Jon Favreau. Know, and like he is so open and willing to share to. To not shy away from it and to embrace it, which I think is really important.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah. And he, he's. He. He loves the legacy of it. He's not frustrated that. That, that was then.

[Will Arnett]

And yeah, I like that. I like that about him. He's you know, sometimes they play it down like, yeah, yeah, I did. You're like, no, no, no. It's a big own.

[Jason Bateman]

It's.

[Mark Hamill]

Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

He was the star of. Is the star of the biggest film most of of our business.

[Jason Bateman]

Totally.

[Sean Hayes]

It's a, it's a, it's a just a remarkable thing. And thank God he's proud of it.

[Jason Bateman]

I know. Incredible.

[Will Arnett]

Which is your favorite film of all the films? Shy.

[Jason Bateman]

Well, the Empire Strikes Back is pretty special.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah. I mean, I like, I, I live for all of them.

[Will Arnett]

But like, what was the thing about Empire Strike?

[Jason Bateman]

It was just, I don't know, it's a little more sophisticated. It was a little more. There had, there was.

[Sean Hayes]

Turn it back into a buy here.

[Jason Bateman]

There's a little.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, no, I was going to do a special. No, because I know a lot of people felt, felt like that was. Well, a New Hope is the first one. So it's like the first time you see it. So it's amazing.

[Jason Bateman]

Huge, huge.

[Will Arnett]

Empire Strikes Back is an amazing cinematic feat and people weren't. They didn't love as much. And this is a very special Return of the Jedi.

[Sean Hayes]

We will allow.

[Will Arnett]

I know, but it's Star Wars. It's allowed for you.

[Jason Bateman]

All right, fine.

[Will Arnett]

Smart Nice Smart less Smartless is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Michael Grant, Terry, Rob Armjarv and Bennett Barbico. Smartless.

[Sean Hayes]

Hello, friends. Jason here. We are so excited that Smartless has officially joined the Sirius X family. We can't wait to announce new surprise guests who we know that you'll love. And if, if you want to be the first to hear new episodes ad free and a whole week early. Subscribe to SiriusXM podcasts plus on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial today.

[F]

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