Mark Hamill related. Did he get screwed over by Ford?

Good idea to make with the quotes
Thanks for those.

 

Harrison lucked into Indy. It was supposed to be Tom Sellack, but he decided on Magnum PI. It worked out for the best for both, but that's still the way it was supposed to be.

 

Actually, Selleck was going to do RAIDERS, but CBS (figuring they had a major star if somebody like Spielberg and Lucas wanted him for a film) decided to put MAGNUM into production at the last minute (the pilot had been completed), and so Selleck contractually(sp?) couldn't do it.

Then as luck would have it, some kind of strike prevented MAGNUM from shooting once the production had located to Hawaii, so he could have ended up with RAIDERS after all. But like you said, it worked out great for both.

 

I think Shelley nailed it and TJ's quotes added another strong factor to everything.
I don't think it has anything to do with talent.
There's tons of mega-talented people out there who'll never make it. To just say 'it's cause they're bad actors or ugly' is oversimplifying things almost to the point of ludicrousy.
That's like asking 'Why is so-and-so in jail?' and answering 'Cause he's bad.'

 

I don't think Ford's success hurt Hamill. Star Wars gave him the money to live his life according to his personal priorities, as we can see from those quotes on the previous page. Sure, Mark Hamill didn't become a movie star like Harrison Ford, but he has had a fairly busy career doing voice work for various movies, tv shows and video games. He's also played the elephant man and Mozart (in Amadeus) on Broadway. (Why he didn't get the part of Mozart in the movie version is beyond me although Tom Hulse was good in the role.)

 

I agree, talent had little to do with it. Ford was not at his best in Star Wars (especially RotJ) because he was so obviously tired of doing the movies. If it were simply a matter of how well the two actors had sold themselves based on their performances in the SW films, I don't think Ford would have gotten very far.

If anything, the fact that Mark Hammill got typecast and Harrison Ford didn't means Ford was the less convincing of the two.

 

At the end of the day, the important thing is whether Hamill's happy. And it seems he is.

Happily married with kids, a reliable source of income, no drug or drink or gambling or whatever addictions, and able to pursue projects which interest him. Not a bad situation at all.

 

I'd like to add that I don't think Harrison's a better actor than Mark, and vice versa. Mark has kept himself busy since SW, but his not having as big a celebrity status and as huge a movie carrer as Harrison is due in small part to being typecast, sure. But I think it has mostly to do with Mark's ambitions not going down that super-star path. As is evident from his quotes earlier in this thread, he is a family man first and would rather be a super-star at home. Now look at Harrison, whose marriage failed. Like Mark said, it all has to do with priorities.

 

I went back and read the original question, which seems to suggest Harrison had something to do with Mark not having as big a movie career. I think definitely not. It's a rediculous notion.

 

Latorski - In A&E's Biography of Mark Hamill, AMADEUS is mentioned. Hamill heard that a film was being made and thought it would be a great opportunity to show another side of himself as an actor on the big screen, and he hoped he'd be able to star in it.

But according to his sister, he heard that the powers that be at the studio making the film said something along the lines of, "We don't want Luke Skywalker playing Mozart. Who would believe that?" She said Hamill was (understandably) very saddened. Would have been nice if he had gotten, though. Might have made the movie entertaining.

 

Great quotes DJ! I always figured he didn't want to be the big star Harrison became. It takes a certain amount of re-prioritizing your life to allow your career to take over and Mark didn't want to do that. His heart is in the right place to take care of his kids. My daughter comes first in my life, that's for sure. Sometimes, it's difficult and you wish things were different but hey...you had kids and that's how it is. I'm glad to see that he's been working all along. He's done Broadway, I heard he was great as Mozart in Amadeus. In fact, just recently in the TFN Holonet, was a real nice review he received for some play he was in in Miami. And I love the little parodies he does regarding Star Wars like his role in Jay and Silent Bob, or the little thing he did on the Simpsons ("Luke..be a Jedi tonight"). That was hilarious. It shows he's got a sense of humor about the whole Star Wars genre, which is great...He's got a new movie/mockumentary coming out about the San Diego ComCon. Supposedly, he interviews some Star War characters...I'll bet that's funny as well.....

"We don't want Luke Skywalker playing Mozart. Who would believe that?"

See, that's how Hollywood is...they're so shallow...It's too bad they didn't give him a chance...he would have made a great Mozart, he was on stage. In fact, Tom Hulce (who played Mozart in the film) kind of looks like Mark. Well, I guess that kind of turned him off of the whole Hollywood scene and who could blame him. Poor guy

 

Hamill obviously isn't bitter or jealous of Ford's success. He was disappointed that he didn't get cast in the movie "Amadeus," but that's not surprising; it was a great role and may have helped break the Luke typecasting.

Hamill actually has shown a great sense of humor when it comes to the "Ford became a big star, you didn't" crap that the entertainment press likes to dig up and throw in his face -- he appeared on some comedy show or other, playing himself, desperately looking for work but just as desperately trying to avoid becoming Ford's houseboy-for-hire. Then during an interview for "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," the interviewer pointed out that Carrie Fisher appeared in the movie; Hamill joked that Ford had a part in the movie as well but it ended up on the cutting room floor.

There's tons of mega-talented people out there who'll never make it.

Very true. And there's lots of not-that-talented people who become huge stars because they were in the right place at the right time, and/or have a lot of appeal. Talent and appeal aren't the same thing.

 

I don't think Hamill got screwed by Ford, he got screwed by Tom Hulce.

From what I understand, he could've been in the film version of Amadeus, whom he played in a stage version. But Hulce took what could've been Mark's breakthrough film performance from him.

Hamill and Ford took entirely different career paths. As far as I know, Ford always commanded a certain pay, and only took leading and/or blockbuster movie roles. I like Ford and some of his movies, but I respect Hamill. Hamill has a humility that Ford can't touch.

Hamill is successful in his own way. In my opinion, he's way more successful than Harrison Ford.








Whoops. Should've read posts before I posted. What I've said has been covered already. Oh well. I'll just leave my opinion.

 

Yeah, but Hulce was excellent, so what can you do?
I respect Hamill as an actor
I respect him even more as a speedo model

 

Hamill actually has shown a great sense of humor when it comes to the "Ford became a big star, you didn't" crap

Hey, you can make yourself miserable about that kind of thing or you can laugh at it. It sounds like Mark does the latter. Maybe he should try stand up next. I'll bet he's a real funny guy.

 

I respect him even more as a speedo model

Somebody's seen Black Magic Woman...

 

Amen to DJ for putting up those quotes! That basically sums it up. It's really astounding to me how frequently this issue comes up... It's really frustrating.

He likes what he's doing now and that's what matters. That's why the movie he's writing/directing right now is about comics. He likes comics! Just respect what the two of them have done and leave it be.

As to whether Hamill got screwed over by Ford: No. It's not true and it's not fair to Harrison or Mark.

Black Magic Woman. It's been way to long since I've seen that.

 

As to whether Hamill got screwed over by Ford: No. It's not true and it's not fair to Harrison or Mark.

It's not like the actors make the total decision over what role they'll play. I suppose when they get to Harrison's level they can pick and choose, but it's still up to the director and the producer on what actor they want to use for any particular role.

Hmmmmmm...never saw Black Magic Woman, may have to look that one up

 

I also thought Hamill was great in his segment of Body Bags, and he was creepily-terrific as the sadistic killer in Midnight Ride.

But personally, I think his best career performance to date was as The Joker in BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER. The film left me rather disappointed, but he was absolutely terrific. He definitely should have won at the Annie Awards that year for his performance.

 

Hamill's voicework as The Joker was just phenomenal.

When the Batman animated series started, I was lucky to see them right from the first episode screened in the UK. I must've seen almost all of them, and although the voice-acting all round was superb I always looked forward to Joker episodes the most.

I used to wonder who did his voice. I loved the chemistry between him and Harley Quinn (Arleen Sorkin) and the flipping between fury and smug playfulness that he had. Plus that great manic laugh.

When Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was announced, the first feature-length spin-off from the successful series, I heard that Mark Hamill was going to be one of the voice actors. I watched the film and thought I picked out Hamill's voice as one of the gangsters involved. Checking the credits, I was honestly shocked to finally discover that my favourite character was voiced by Luke Skywalker

I really didn't have a clue up to that point, Joker was so crazed and vicious and flamboyant that I would never have connected him to Luke. I definitely gained new respect for Hamill's abilities from that role, and it was also a very good way to avoid typecasting due to his very well-known look and concentrate on his voice instead.

 

I also understand he played a villian in the "Flash" t.v. series on CBS some years ago.

 

Yeah, the Trickster. He said he was inspired by Frank Gorshin, who played the Riddler in the old "Batman" TV series.

He drew from his "Amadeus" stage work when perfecting his maniacal Joker laugh.

 

Yeah, he played The Trickster in a two-part episode that was later released on video, along with the pilot. THE FLASH was a great show, and CBS screwed it over royally.

There's a nice little behind-the-scenes featurette on MASK OF THE PHANTASM that HBO did at the time of its premiere, and it includes footage of Hamill (as well as the rest of the cast) recording in the studio. Hamill does one of his maniacal laughs, then acts a little light-headed and goes, "Boy, that sure makes you woozy," and everyone laughs. He was also the only cast member who had to stand because his performances were always so high and active.

He actually replaced Tim Curry as the Joker's voice. Curry was originally cast and was able to get the comical side of the Joker, but couldn't quite master the more serious side, so it was a mutual decision to replace him. Hamill had already guest-starred in one of the first episodes, Mr. Freeze's origin story (which has a couple ESB references), and the producers remember him and how he told them, "If there's ever a chance for me to come back as one of Batman's Rogues Gallery, please call me."

The rest is history.

 

I don't think Mark had the kind of charisma Ford got and that was the main reason. Also Mark tried to break away from the role of Luke. Remember Ford did that too in the first years after Star Wars without any success (Hanover Steet and The Frisco Kid come to mind) but he realized if he wanted to make it he had to play similar role which is why he decided to play Dr. Jones. Because now that Ford is the most popular actor of all times he can do what he wants. Now he can play different roles and if people don't like it, it is not his problem.
My point is that Ford knew better how to stay famous (maybe he just had a better publicist). I think Mark could have been a star if he had played more "Luke" roles. But I am also confident he wouldn't want to change a thing.

 

Do you hear Mark complaining?

Harrison was choosen since he had worked with Lucas before and Han reminded Lucas of Ford's character in American Graffitti.

Harrison didn't crew Mark over, Mark is a family man he wanted to be with his family rather than always be out doing filming, he wanted to watch his family grow and
occasionally did some work.