Where are they now? The star actors of the OT.

Well, I was watching the original Austin Powers movie the other day, and I realized that the therapist Dr. Evil and Scott went to see was played by none other than Carrie Fisher. I had to actually rewind the tape to make sure, but it was her, only with short blond hair. I had just watched the OT a day before, so the image of Princess Leia was still stuck, so I didn't recognize her right away. Anyway, aside from Harrison Ford, none of the other main actors from the OT made it big after the OT, or at least I didn't see any of them. I heard that Mark Hamill got into voice acting, but that's about it. (This of course excludes Alec Guinness, as he was big before his role in Star Wars.) Does anyone know where they went after the OT?

 

Hamill had a long, hard time trying to escape the typecasting of Luke, appearing in B-movies, and being labelled a 'bad actor', before finally managing to gain success as a highly-regarded voice actor. If you ever get the chance to see the excellent Batmen series from the early ninties, Mark played the Joker, and that led to a large number of voice roles that still keep him in demand at the moment.

Fisher had drug problems during the filming of the OT, and finally had to go into rehab a couple years after ROTJ. After several well-documented personal problems, she was able to rehabilitate herself and became a best-selling author, starting with the award-wining Postcards from the Edge. She pops up every now and then in movies (she was in Joe Dante's 'The Burbs', for example), but mainly works as a novellist and film script advisor.

And you know what happened with Ford. Those are the 'Big Three', I'm sure others can help with the rest.

 

Mark Hamill never achieved major film stardom, but he has worked steadily since 1983 and racked up considerable acclaim on the stage, and for his voice-over work, particularly as the Joker in "Batman: the Animated Series." (He beat out Tim Curry for the part, and Curry was no doubt considered a shoo-in.) He's even been called "the new Mel Blanc." He also wrote a graphic novel called "Black Pearl," which was a dream come true for him because he's always loved comic books. He's been married to the same woman for 25 years and is, by all accounts, the nicest, friendliest guy you're ever likely to meet. He's wonderful to his fans and is a favorite of those who put together comic book/sci-fi conventions and the like.

Carrie Fisher never achieved major film stardom either, but she got good notices for her performances in "When Harry Met Sally" and "Scream 3" (many said she was the only good thing in the latter movie), and has mostly left acting to raise her child and be a writer (which she vastly prefers to acting anyway -- when she was in high school, her drama teacher had to beg her to act in the plays, because she wanted to work behind the scenes). She's written three bestselling novels and is coming out with a new novel this year, and has become one of the most sought-after and highly paid script doctors in the business. Most of her script doctor work is uncredited, so it's hard to say how many movies she's worked on, but basically, if a moviemaker wants his dialogue punched up, he/she sends the script to her. She's also become a spokesperson for increased funding for the treatment of mental illness; several years ago she revealed she was bipolar.

 

whats bipolar?

 

Thanks for the extra information, Shelley

Bipolarism is manic depression. Fisher suffered from this herself, I think.

 

This Page, although soemwhat outdated, gives a good run down to what the OT actors have been up to.

 

Thanks. I was curious about Fisher and Hamill particularly...does anyone know if they remained friends at all with Harrison Ford or George Lucas?

 

Last I heard Hamill was in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back as the bad guy with the lightsaber!

Chewbacca went back to Kashyyk and is a highly successful real estate agent. Jabba is dead, and remains that way to this day. I heard Lando is in some cell in an unkonwn galaxy due to what he refers to as, "Another way to keep the black man down." Crix Madine is selling walkman's via EBay at discount prices, and C-3PO and R2D2 are car salesmen at some Hollywood Celebrity dealership. I think they sell Volvo's.

The Ewoks are still celbrating on Endor and have signed exclusive screening rights to Star Tours, the sequel.

 

"...does anyone know if they remained friends at all with Harrison Ford or George Lucas?"

I can remember watching a documentary all about Carrie Fisher ages ago on BBC 1, where in it she visited George Lucas, so I assume they're still friends. As for Mark Hamill, I'm afraid I don't know, but seeing as his son did appear in The Phantom Menace, George and he must have parted company on fairly good terms! As for whether or not Mark is still friends with Harrison, I don't know, but I did read they got on brilliantly during the making of the Classic Trilogy, but apart from that, I don't know!

 

Who was Mark Hamill's son in TPM? Just curious. Was he one of Ani's slave kid friends?

 

I think he's on Naboo, somewhere. It's a real blink and you'll miss it part!

 

Hamill has 2 sons, but I think the older one, Nathan, that's in TPM. He's one of the Queen's bodyguards, I couldn't say which one exactly, though.

Hamill and Fisher have remained friends with both Lucas and Ford. Fisher, in fact, did some light script work on TPM and AOTC to help out, without wanting a credit.

 

Well, that was nice of her...I wonder what the opinions of the stars of the OT are on the PT...

 

Thanks. I was curious about Fisher and Hamill particularly...does anyone know if they remained friends at all with Harrison Ford or George Lucas?

Carrie Fisher is still very good friends with both Harrison Ford (she's spoken at a couple of recent tributes to him, and when he split with his wife she lent him some moral support, plus her daughter is friends with his) and George Lucas (she interviewed him last year and has worked with him on several of his projects as a script doctor -- she also attended the San Francisco charity premiere of AOTC with him). I don't know about Mark Hamill. I heard someplace that he visits Lucas every month or so, but in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, he said he didn't hang out with Fisher, though they talk once in a while, and hadn't spoken to Ford in years. He does speak very highly of both of them in interviews, however.