Beginnings '', 1975 Hamill's early career included a recurring role on the
soap opera General Hospital, and a starring role on the short-lived
sitcom The Texas Wheelers. He also had guest appearances on
The Bill Cosby Show,
The Partridge Family, Room 222 and
One Day at a Time.
Star Wars 1977–1983: Original trilogy Robert Englund was auditioning for a role in
Apocalypse Now when he walked across the hall to where auditions were taking place for
George Lucas's
Star Wars. After watching the auditions for a while, he realized that Hamill, his friend, would be perfect for the role of
Luke Skywalker. as it turned out, Hamill's agent had already set up the audition that gave him the role. During his
screen test, Hamill presumed that he was playing a sidekick to
Harrison Ford's
Han Solo and was unsure whether or not the film was supposed to be a comedy. in 1980 Released in May 1977,
Star Wars was an enormous, unexpected success and had a huge effect on the film industry. Hamill went on to appear in the less-than-successful
Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978, and later starred in the successful film sequels
The Empire Strikes Back and
Return of the Jedi. During the time between the first two films, Hamill was involved in a serious car accident, fracturing his nose and left cheekbone. False rumors spread that his face had required plastic surgery. For his part in both of the sequels, Hamill was honored with the
Saturn Award for Best Actor, given by the
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. In 1980, he made a guest appearance on
The Muppet Show, both as himself and as Luke Skywalker in the episode
The Stars of Star Wars. The crossover episode also starred
Anthony Daniels as
C-3PO and
R2-D2, who joined Luke on a search for
Chewbacca. Hamill reprised the role of Luke Skywalker for the
radio dramatizations of both
Star Wars and
The Empire Strikes Back. For the
Return of the Jedi radio drama, the role was played by a different actor. Editions of
Joseph Campbell's
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (which influenced Lucas as he was developing the films) issued after the release of
Star Wars in 1977 used the image of Hamill as Luke Skywalker on the cover. Hamill has appeared in several documentaries, including
The Making of Star Wars and
Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy. He also narrated the 1980 documentary,
SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back and the 1983 documentary,
From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga.
2014–2025: Return to the Star Wars franchise Hamill returned to the
Star Wars universe in 2014, when he voiced the ancient Sith Lord
Darth Bane in the last episode of season 6 of the animated series
The Clone Wars. He was nominated for a
Daytime Emmy Award for his performance. Following its acquisition of
Lucasfilm,
The Walt Disney Company released more
Star Wars films, starting with
The Force Awakens on December 18, 2015. Initially, both Disney and Hamill were coy about whether Hamill would be a cast member. It was reported that Hamill had been assigned a nutritionist and personal trainer ahead of production. In September 2013, Hamill's friend Robert Englund confirmed that "they've got Mark in the gym because Mark's coming back as Luke Skywalker." In 2014, it was announced that Hamill would reprise his role in
The Force Awakens. Despite having top billing, Hamill only appears briefly at the end of the film (with no dialogue) in a
cliffhanger set-up for the sequel. The film received positive reviews, was the highest-grossing film of 2015, grossed $2.07 billion worldwide and became the third-highest-grossing film at the time of its release. Hamill played Skywalker again in
Star Wars: The Last Jedi, released on December 15, 2017. Hamill was initially critical of his own role in the film, stating that he and director
Rian Johnson had "a fundamental difference" regarding Skywalker's characterization. Hamill later expressed regret for having made those statements, calling the film an "all-time great". He played Skywalker again in
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the last instalment of the nine part
Skywalker saga. Hamill also had voice cameos as Dobbu Scay in
The Last Jedi, Boolio in
The Rise of Skywalker, and EV-9D9 in the
fifth episode of
The Mandalorian. He had similar cameos in
The Force Awakens,
Rogue One, and
Solo: A Star Wars Story in undisclosed roles, for which he was credited as "William M. Patrick" and "Patrick Williams". Hamill was digitally de-aged to reprise his role as Skywalker in the
season 2 finale of
The Mandalorian and the sixth chapter of the spin-off series
The Book of Boba Fett. He also appeared in
Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian. In 2021, Hamill praised the prequel trilogy for having "their own identity". Hamill voiced the animator in the
Star Wars webisode of
How NOT to Draw and reprised his role in
Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy. Hamill attended several conventions as part of
Star Wars Celebration as a guest. In an interview in May 2025, Hamill said that he would not portray Luke Skywalker again saying, "I had my time. I'm appreciative of that, but I really think they should focus on the future and all the new characters." Despite this, it was announced in August 2025 that he would make a guest appearance in
LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy: Pieces of the Past.
Other work After the success of
Star Wars, Hamill found that audiences identified him very closely with Luke Skywalker. He became a teen idol, appearing on the cover of teen magazines such as
Tiger Beat. He attempted to avoid being
typecast by appearing in the 1978 film
Corvette Summer and
Britannia Hospital (1982). Further distancing himself from his early blockbuster role, Hamill started acting on
Broadway, starring in plays such as
The Elephant Man (1979),
Amadeus (1983), ''
Harrigan 'N Hart (1985, for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination), Room Service (1986) and The Nerd (1987–88). When Amadeus'' was adapted for
film in 1984, Hamill auditioned to reprise his role as Mozart, but lost the part to
Tom Hulce. A studio executive told the producers of the film, "I don't want Luke Skywalker in this film". The film director,
Milos Forman told Hamill that, "No one is believing that the Luke Skywalker is the Mozart." Hamill also made television appearances—in a 1986 episode of
Amazing Stories and a 1987 episode of
Alfred Hitchcock Presents. After a six-year hiatus from film, Hamill returned to the big screen in the 1989 science-fiction film
Slipstream. He continued to star in films throughout the 1990s, including
Midnight Ride and
The Guyver in 1991, the
1995 remake of
Village of the Damned, and the 1998 Swedish action film
Hamilton. Hamill appeared in
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) as the supervillain Cocknocker, a role that is a parody both of himself and of roles he played in the past. '' in 1978 His television work includes a guest appearance as the
Trickster on two episodes of
The Flash (1990), cameo appearances on
MADtv as the estranged father of Ms. Swan, and an appearance on
Saturday Night Live, in which he played himself being sold in a
Star Wars-themed
home shopping sale. He appeared in single episodes of
3rd Rock from the Sun (1997), and
Just Shoot Me! (1998), in two episodes of
seaQuest DSV (1995) as Tobias LeConte, When the
Wing Commander series of computer games started using
full motion video cut scenes, Hamill was cast as the series protagonist, Colonel
Christopher Blair, a role he played in
Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger,
Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom and
Wing Commander: Prophecy. In the 1999
Wing Commander film, Blair was played by
Freddie Prinze Jr., although Hamill had a voice cameo. Hamill appears in
Squadron 42—the single-player campaign from the
Star Citizen computer-game universe—as Lieutenant Commander Steve "Old Man" Colton. In 2003, Hamill starred in the
two-hander play
Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks as the acerbic dance instructor Michael Minetti. He played opposite
Rue McClanahan for the season at the
Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, and opposite
Polly Bergen when the production moved to
Broadway. Hamill also directed and starred in the 2004 direct-to-DVD film
Comic Book: The Movie. Having been a comic-book fan who attended science-fiction and comics conventions before becoming famous, Hamill said his character was based on an exaggerated version of himself. He and his crew shot most of the "
mockumentary" film during the 2002
San Diego Comic-Con and enlisted
Stan Lee,
Kevin Smith,
Bruce Campbell and
Hugh Hefner in small roles. The movie won an award for Best Live-Action DVD Premiere Movie at the 2005
DVD Exclusive Awards. In 2011, Hamill appeared as a villain in the
fifth season of the
NBC series
Chuck. He appeared in the television series
Criminal Minds—in the last two episodes of season eight—as John Curtis (also known as "The Replicator"), a serial killer who stalks the BAU team throughout the show's eighth season. He also made a guest appearance alongside
George Takei in the season one finale of the
ABC sitcom
The Neighbors as Commandant Bill. Hamill starred in the 2011 Hungarian film
Thelomeris, a project on which he also served as a creative consultant.
Thelomeris was the first mainstream science-fiction film to be produced in Hungary. The following year, Hamill starred in two more live-action films: the British
horror film Airborne and the
independent film Sushi Girl.
Airborne was received negatively by critics and audiences. Hamill said the dark tone of
Sushi Girl pulled him out of his comfort zone, but he was grateful that it did. In 2014, Hamill appeared in the film
Kingsman: The Secret Service as James Arnold, a professor from
Imperial College London and an expert on
climate change. He also reprised his role as the Trickster in
The CW's 2014 live-action series
The Flash, appearing in the seventeenth episode of the first season, the ninth episode of the second season, and the ninth episode of the third season. Hamill starred in the 2018 film
Con Man, an independent film about the life of famous
con man Barry Minkow. Hamill played Minkow's father, Robert Minkow. Hamill appeared in the second season of the historical-fiction drama series
Knightfall, which premiered in 2019. He portrayed Master Talus, a veteran Templar who trains the initiates at the Chartres Temple. In April 2022, it was announced that Hamill would make an appearance on the revival of the series
The Kids in the Hall, which was set to be released on
Amazon Prime Video the following month, on May 13. In 2024, he appeared in
The Life of Chuck, directed by
Mike Flanagan and based on the 2020 novella
of the same name by
Stephen King. His performance was praised in reviews of the film by Thomas Floyd of
The Washington Post and by
Peter Travers among others, and commended by King himself.
Voice acting General work Hamill first performed voice acting work in the early 1970s, voicing the character Corey Anders on the Saturday morning cartoon
Jeannie by
Hanna-Barbera Productions. He later played Sean in the
Ralph Bakshi film
Wizards, and provided the voice of archvillain Kavaxas in the fifth and final season of 2012's
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Non-comic-related television roles include the deranged
shock jock anchorman Dr. Jak in
Phantom 2040; Principal John Smith in the
Totally Spies episode "Soul Collector"; Christopher "Maverick" Blair in
Wing Commander Academy; the
Walter Lantz character
Buzz Buzzard in
The New Woody Woodpecker Show; the flamboyant robot Lawrance "Larry" 3000 in
Time Squad; the pirate Captain Stickybeard in
Codename: Kids Next Door; Fire Lord Ozai in
Avatar: The Last Airbender, the Skeleton King in
Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!; multiple roles in
Metalocalypse; and the groundskeeper Skips in
Regular Show. He also voiced himself in two episodes of the Disney animated series
Pepper Ann. Hamill guest-starred as himself in
The Simpsons episode "
Mayored to the Mob". On the accompanying
audio commentary, he said he was a fan of the show since its 1987 debut on
The Tracey Ullman Show, and that it was a personal thrill to work with
Dan Castellaneta, the voice of
Homer Simpson. He has also guest-starred in
Family Guy, and was a recurring voice actor on
Seth Green's
Robot Chicken. the evil wolf Niju in
Balto II: Wolf Quest; and Chanukah Zombie in ''
Futurama: Bender's Big Score. He also voiced Colonel Muska in the second English-language version of Castle in the Sky, and the Mayor of Pejite in the dubbed English version of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'', both directed by
Hayao Miyazaki and distributed by
Disney. Hamill's video game voice roles include Detective Mosely in
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers; Assistant Director Wilson in
Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix; Adrian Ripburger in the
LucasArts game
Full Throttle;
Wolverine in ''
X2: Wolverine's Revenge (the game which accompanied the film X2); Goro Majima in Yakuza; Malefor The Dark Master in The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon; The Watcher in Darksiders; and Master Eraqus in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts III. Tetsuya Nomura, creator of Kingdom Hearts'', describes himself as a fan of Hamill's work. There is also another character, Master
Xehanort, originally voiced by
Leonard Nimoy of
Star Trek fame. Nomura stated that they wanted both Hamill and Nimoy for the roles, as the two characters are rivals, referencing the rivalry between fans of
Star Wars and
Star Trek. After Nimoy died, he was replaced by
Rutger Hauer for
Kingdom Hearts III, who, in turn, was replaced by
Christopher Lloyd following his death for the
Re Mind DLC; Lloyd had also appeared in
Star Trek as Commander Kruge. Hamill narrated
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, the title of which referenced the
1980 war film he starred in. He also appeared in two installments of the
Crash Bandicoot series. Hamill is credited as the narrator in
Ancient Voices (1999), a
docuseries on archaeology and ancient history co-produced by the
BBC and
The Learning Channel, and published by
Time Life as a DVD series. He also narrated the Medal of Honor and Silver Star citations of
Tibor Rubin,
Ralph E. Pomeroy, John Finnigan and
Mitchell Red Cloud Jr. for the 2013
Korean War documentary ''Finnigan's War'' (directed by Conor Timmis). Hamill voiced the character Todd Wainio in
World War Z, a critically acclaimed audiobook based on
Max Brooks' novel of the same name. He provided voices for the entire cast of the 1983 audiobook version of
Pinocchio, and voiced the characters of the book series
The Spiderwick Chronicles Volumes I–III, by
Holly Black and
Tony DiTerlizzi. In 2007, Hamill voiced Elder Orin in the film
Battle for Terra. He narrated the 2017 science-fiction TV series
Dimension 404. In 2019, Hamill voiced
Chucky in the ''
Child's Play film remake, as well as the Skeksis scientist skekTek in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, a ten-part Netflix prequel series to the 1982 Jim Henson film The Dark Crystal''. In 2021, Hamill voiced the tailor Art Rosenbaum in the
animated adaptation of
Robert Kirkman's
Invincible series, and
Skeletor in
Masters of the Universe: Revelation. He is also set to reprise the role for the follow-up to
Revelation, Masters of the Universe: Revolution. In-character as Luke Skywalker, Hamill voices the English versions of the Ukrainian
air raid warning app. The alerts are not only performed in Skywalker's cadence but, after the alert is over, he signs off with "
May the Force be with you". Hamill has raised funds for the
Ukrainian war relief effort by signing
Star Wars-themed posters to be raffled off. At
San Diego Comic-Con 2024, it was announced that Hamill would replace
Brian Doyle-Murray as the voice of
The Flying Dutchman in
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants. Hamill previously voiced
The Moth in the
SpongeBob SquarePants season 5 episode "Night Light".
The Joker Hamill's role as the
Joker began in the 1992 series
Batman: The Animated Series The short-lived
The WB live-action series
Birds of Prey, based on the comic book of the same title, featured a flashback sequence in which the Joker shoots
Barbara Gordon and paralyzes her. This sequence featured Hamill voicing Joker,
dubbed over actor/stuntman Roger Stoneburner whose facial structure more resembled the character. He also voiced the character in a few segments in
Robot Chicken. Hamill voiced the Joker alongside his
Batman: The Animated Series co-star
Kevin Conroy as
Batman and Jason Hillhouse as
Dick Grayson in a feature of a storyboard scene included in the 2005 Special Edition DVD of
Tim Burton's 1989 film
Batman. This scene depicted the origin of
Robin, which was not filmed because the producers felt it was out-of-place with the rest of the film. Hamill has said that he has voiced the Joker for toys and amusement park rides. Although these jobs did not pay particularly well, he enjoyed even these small roles and admitted being protective of the character, preferring not to let "others sleep in my sleeping bag"; he also self-identifies as a "real comic book nerd". the
Sega CD version of
The Adventures of Batman & Robin (which was later used to create a "lost" episode of the animated series) and in
Batman: Arkham Asylum. In May 2010, Hamill declared to IGN that his role in
Arkham City would be his last as the Joker. On October 19, 2011, shortly after the release of the game, Hamill announced his retirement on his Twitter account, saying "Hello/Goodbye Joker! I've enjoyed every minute behind the wheel of the Clown Prince's crazy car – I'm going to miss him more than I can say!!". In 2015, Hamill yet again returned as the Joker in
Batman: Arkham Knight with the character recurring through the game as a hallucination. During a 2011 Comic-Con, when asked about
Heath Ledger's
Oscar-winning portrayal of the character in
Christopher Nolan's
The Dark Knight, Hamill said that it was the most original performance that he had ever seen since
Anthony Hopkins' Oscar-winning portrayal of
Hannibal Lecter in
The Silence of the Lambs. Hamill has commented that if there would ever be an animated version of
Batman: The Killing Joke, he would gladly voice the Joker again, encouraging fans to campaign for said adaptation. On July 17, 2015, Hamill tweeted that he had his fingers crossed in hopes that he would be contacted to reprise his role as the Joker in the
animated adaptation. On July 27, Collider reported that Hamill would voice the Joker in the film. The film was released in theaters for a two-day limited time. It was released on Digital HD on July 27, 2016. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 2. Hamill reprised the Joker for the animated series
Justice League Action. He also reprised the Trickster for the series, as well as voicing
Swamp Thing. In the animated short "Missing the Mark", Hamill voices a fictionalized version of himself, who appears alongside all three of his other characters. Hamill once again voiced Joker in
Lego DC Super-Villains, replacing voice actor
Christopher Corey Smith. Hamill has been nominated for two
Annie Awards for his portrayal of the character, for an
Interactive Achievement Award, for a
Spike Video Game Award, and has won a
British Academy Games Award for Best Performer. In January 2023, Hamill revealed in an interview that he would no longer voice the Joker following Kevin Conroy's death in 2022, stating that "Without Kevin there, there doesn't seem to be a Batman for me." In 2024, Hamill voiced the Joker in the crossover fighting game
MultiVersus and the film
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths (both of which Conroy recorded dialogue as Batman before his death).
Writing Hamill is the co-writer of
The Black Pearl, a comic book miniseries published by
Dark Horse Comics. He wrote an introduction to the Trade Paperback
Batman: Riddler Two-Face which reprints various stories involving
the Riddler and
Two-Face to tie in with
Batman Forever. He has also written several stories for
Simpsons Comics, including "Catastrophe in Substitute Springfields!", which parodies DC's
Crisis on Infinite Earths and also references several other classic comics. ==Personal life==