What's next for Mark Hamill? Star Wars legend on movies, Maga and Malibu melancholy
Mark Hamill was at a point in his life where he felt ready to trade the Force for a pool float and quiet crosswords in the shade.
After five decades as the face of one of pop culture's most enduring myths – Luke Skywalker, the wide-eyed Tatooine farm boy turned Jedi Knight in Star Wars – Hamill had found a comfortable corner of the galaxy to call his own.
He had a home he cherished, a family that kept him grounded and no pressing need to be in front of a camera again.
'I said, 'This is perfect – they killed me off,'' says the 73-year-old with a shrug – referring to Skywalker's death in 2017's The Last Jedi – on a warm May afternoon in Los Angeles.
'I didn't have the drive or the motivation any more. If you lose the fire in your belly, it's easy to just hang around the pool all day, playing Yahtzee or whatever.
'I don't want to be on camera at my age any more. The only ones who complain are my agent and my wife. He wants the commission and she wants me out of the house.'
That was the plan, anyway – until the world caught fire.
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