"One of the things that I love about voiceover is that it's a situation where – because you're not encumbered by being seen – it's liberating. You're able to make broad choices that you would never make if you were on camera."
Better known as Luke Skywalker, The Joker, Fire Lord Ozai, Colonel Muska or Christopher Blair, Mark Richard Hamill (born September 25, 1951 in Oakland, California) is an American actor who first came to prominence as one of the best young talents of The '70s.
Though praised for a strong performance as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise, he could never match the success of his most famous role. Despite being typecast, he was frequently in demand and performed in several lesser-known films before turning more to theater (not just to pay the bills, but because he preferred it), eventually getting juicy lead roles in big plays on Broadway like Amadeus and The Elephant Man. (Actors who had seen his performances include Jackie Gleason, Christopher Walken, and even the great Katharine Hepburn, who met Hamill backstage.)
Hamill has also become one of the most acclaimed voice actors in the industry. He's best known for playing dynamic, outright evil villains (ironically, considering his previous typecasting as a hero fighting against The Dark Side) in animation; most notably The Joker as stated earlier, with many considering his to be the definitive interpretation of the character. He's actually a swell guy in real life, despite the typecasting.
There is a persistent story about Hamill getting in a severe car accident that caused serious facial injuries that required reconstructive surgery,note and many believe that this is the real reason for his character being all banged up early in The Empire Strikes Back. But Hamill refutes this, saying he just suffered some scratches and a broken nose and he doesn't understand how the incident was blown so far out of proportion. It is, however, why he resembled a Ken doll in the infamous The Star Wars Holiday Special, as the accident happened not long before.
Hamill's career came full circle in 2014 when he lent his villain-voicing expertise to Star Wars: The Clone Wars as Darth Bane, and then it was announced he'd reprise his role of Luke Skywalker in the Disney-produced sequel trilogy starting with The Force Awakens, and he then reprised his role as the Trickster in the CW Flash series. All of which earned him no small amount of critical acclaim, with the Darth Bane role even earning him an Emmy nomination. Life is good for everyone's favorite Jedi, it seems.
Be sure to check out his Twitter
and Instagram accounts, which are often filled with hilarious stuff.
Mark Hamill's roles include:
Mark Hamill's Roles
- Star Wars:
- Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi) and the sequel trilogy (The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker).
- He played Luke again in the following media:
- The Star Wars Holiday Special
- An ad for Vector Prime.
- A Robot Chicken sketch.
- The first two Star Wars radio adaptations.
- And in a cameo in Family Guy.
- He performed on-set as Luke in The Mandalorian, although his younger self was then recreated via Digital Head Swap on a Body Double (namely Max Lloyd-Jones), while his voice was recreated by an A.I. using archive recordings.
- Later returns in The Book of Boba Fett, in the same capacity as in The Mandalorian.
- Other Star Wars roles:
- Voiced Darth Bane in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
- In the Bad Lip Reading take on The Force Awakens, he voices Han Solo.
- Also voiced Dobbu Scay, the small alien gambler who puts tokens into BB-8 at the Canto Bight casino in The Last Jedi.
- Boolio in The Rise of Skywalker.
- EV-9D9, the droid bartender that runs the formerly anti-droid Mos Eisley Cantina in The Mandalorian (uncredited).
- Claims to have had multiple voice roles in every Star Wars film since 2015. To date, no voice parts in The Force Awakens, Rogue One or Solo have been conclusively identified as him.
- Car-obsessed teenager Kenny Dantley in Corvette Summer, his first role after Star Wars.
- Private Griff, an expert marksman with an aversion to killing, in The Big Red One. Made three years after the first A New Hope in an effort to avoid typecasting.
- The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series and its subsequent followups in the DC Animated Universe. There's a reason he's called Mark Hamill. He has reprised his role as the Joker in other media such as various Robot Chicken sketches and in Batman: Vengeance, Batman: Arkham Series (page), DC Universe Online, Justice League Action, and LEGO DC Super-Villains. He also dubbed over a live-action Joker in Birds of Prey (2002) played by uncredited actor Roger Stoneburner.
- Various other characters in other DC Animated Universe productions, including Solomon Grundy in Justice League and Ferris Boyle in Batman: TAS "Heart of Ice".
- While he didn't play The Joker in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, he and Kevin Conroy still got to appear (as The Spectre and The Phantom Stranger, respectively.)
- In one short for Justice League Action, he voiced three characters and himself, when famous voice actor Mark Hamill gets kidnapped by The Trickster and The Joker before eventually being rescued by Swamp Thing. He even manages to outsmart the two villains by tricking them into thinking the other was saying rude things about them when it was actually just Hamill imitating their voices.
- Various other characters in other DC Animated Universe productions, including Solomon Grundy in Justice League and Ferris Boyle in Batman: TAS "Heart of Ice".
- The Hobgoblin in Spiderman The Animated Series
- The Trickster in The Flash (1990) (and again in Justice League Unlimited, The Flash (2014), and Justice League Action.)
- Sinestro and the Trickster (again) in Lego DC Super Heroes: Attack of the Legion of Doom.
- Maximus in Fantastic Four: The Animated Series
- Gargoyle in Hulk
- Apep in The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian
- Stickybeard in Codename: Kids Next Door
- The Skeleton King in Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go
- The Red Lynx, Jonny and Burke in SWAT Kats
- Steve in Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders, Snakebite Scruggs in Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, Zip Elvin in Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness, and Deaconnote in Scooby-Doo: Camp Scare.
- Goro Majima in the English dub of Yakuza
- Quarry in Generator Rex
- Fire Lord Ozai in Avatar: The Last Airbender
- He also voiced the Monkey Spirit in the Season 1 finale, "The Siege of the North."
- Adrian Ripburger in Full Throttle
- Most of the Omniscient Council of Vagueness from Metalocalypse, among many others.
- Christopher Blair in live action cutscenes of Wing Commander games 3, 4, and Prophecy, and also lent his voice to the animated, younger incarnation of his character in the USA Network cartoon Wing Commander Academy.
- Also provides the voice of "Merlin" in the movie (though the final credits don't list him by name, simply showing "Merlin: ???")
- Colonel Muska in the dub of Laputa: Castle in the Sky
- Hanukkah Zombie in the Futurama movie, Bender's Big Score.
- The Spectre in Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
- The Watcher in Darksiders.
- As Himself in The Big Bang Theory episode, "The Bow Tie Asymmetry"
- Brent Matthews in Body Bags.
- Judah in Joseph: King of Dreams.
- Donald Swan in Comic Book The Movie, which he directed and co-wrote.
- Malefor from The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
- Cock Knocker, a villain from the Bluntman and Chronic universe who is apparently a combination of Hamill's roles as The Joker (voice and mannerisms), The Trickster (appearance), and Luke Skywalker (powers), and the voice of Scooby-Doo in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (which is the origin of the image caption above).
- Did a guest shot as himself (leaning heavily on his legacy as Luke Skywalker) on the season 10 episode of The Simpsons "Mayored to the Mob", where Homer becomes Mayor Quimby's bodyguard after saving Hamill from a sci-fi convention of rioting nerds. He also did a "secret" guest role in the same episode as the Drill Sergeant Nasty Leavelle who teaches Homer how to become a bodyguard. Reportedly, he requested that he be allowed to play a character.
- Played himself again in Pepper Ann, including the finale where it was revealed that he was elected president.
- And once more in Freakazoid!.
- The Larry 3000 on Time Squad
- Master Eraqus in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts III
- Buzz Buzzard in The New Woody Woodpecker Show.
- Tod Wainio in the audio adaptation of World War Z.
- Undergrowth in Danny Phantom.
- Skips the Yeti in Regular Show.
- Klaw in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
- Red Skull in The Super Hero Squad Show
- Sean in Ralph Bakshi's Wizards
- Wolverine in the licensed game X2: Wolverine's Revenge
- Detective Mosely in Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
- Stankfoot in Zevo-3
- Emperor Griffon's humanoid form in Dark Cloud 2.
- Corey Anders in Jeannie (Hamill's debut as a voice actor). Reprised the role in The New Scooby-Doo Movies.
- Guest starred in an episode of The Muppet Show as both himself and Luke Skywalker.
- Will Tasker, a relentless bounty hunter in Slipstream (1989).
- Lundgren, an evil serial killer dolphin, in NTSF:SD:SUV::
- Dr. Pullem and the mall Santa in Dan Vs..
- Crybaby Clown (yes, another evil clown) in the season 2 premiere of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.
- Abraham Kane in Motorcity
- Alvin the Treacherous in Dragons: Riders of Berk
- Himself in I Know That Voice
- A much younger Hamill appeared as a side character in The Partridge Family.
- Hamill cameos in the Cold Open of Chuck's fifth season premiere, continuing the series's tradition of Casting Gags featuring Geek Culture icons.
- Also had a cameo on Saturday Night Live, as a genuine Mark Hamill —NOT a Bruce Boxleitner— for sale on QVC. He's eventually bought by Harrison Ford, who claims he had to put his last Mark Hamill to sleep after it turned out to be a Bruce Boxleitner.
- The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia: A policeman named Conrad.
- "The Replicator" in Criminal Minds.
- Himself in Just Shoot Me!, where he's constantly pestered by Finch until he turns the tables by being just as annoying back.
- The Shapeshifter in Gravity Falls.
- Dr. Sam Stein in The Outer Limits (1995) episode "Mind Over Matter".
- Professor Arnold in Kingsman: The Secret Service.
- Maltruant in Ben 10: Omniverse.
- Kobash, the Mountain Lion in The Crippled Lamb by StarToons Animation
- Gadfly Garnett in Miles from Tomorrowland.
- Reverend George in John Carpenter's Village of the Damned (1995).
- Time traveller Capt. Michael Raynor in Time Runner.
- Kavaxas in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012).
- Phineas Tiberius Mindslap in Mystery Science Theater 3000 (one-episode Cameo in Carnival Magic)
- Py-Ro in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex
- Swamp Thing, The Joker, The Trickster, and himself in Justice League Action
- Turtle in My Friends Tigger & Pooh
- Kobash, The Mountain Lion in the Direct to Video adaptation of The Crippled Lamb by StarToons Animation
- Burt in Danger Rangers
- Dictatious in Trollhunters, especially fun as he's playing an evil relative of one of the main heroes at the same time the Star Wars sequel trilogy was being made.
- Megatronus/The Fallen in The Transformers: Titans Return & The Transformers: Power of the Primes
- Frankenstein in Uncle Grandpa
- Temper in the Best Fiends webseries. He's actually playing a Batman parody character in this role, a far contrast from the Joker. Later replaced in the role by Phil LaMarr.
- Harry Houlihan in Lucky
- Talus in Knightfall
- Chucky from Child's Play (2019)
- skekTek the Skeksis Scientist in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
- Jim the Vampire in What We Do in the Shadows (2019)
- A couple of one-off roles in The Little Mermaid: The Series:
- Zeus, Sebastian's old rival (episode: "Tail of Two Crabs").
- The Little Mermaid author Hans Christian Andersen, himself (episode: "Metal Fish")
- Hamill narrated the PBS airing of "Hippo Beach," an episode of the BBC Nature Documentary series The Natural World.note
- Kent Murray in General Hospital.
- Arthur "Art" Rosenbaum in Invincible (2021).
- Skeletor in Masters of the Universe: Revelation.
- Mervyn Pumpkinhead in The Sandman (2022).
- Albert Kreischer Sr. in The Machine (2023).
- Arthur Pym in The Fall of the House of Usher (2023).
- An unknown voice role in The Wild Robot (2024).
Mark Hamill's works provide examples of:
- Ax-Crazy: A lot of his voice acting roles are unhinged and sociopathic villains. The Joker is the obvious standout but plenty of others such as Fire Lord Ozai count too.
- Career Resurrection: After the release of Return of the Jedi, Hamill didn't have a huge amount of work that wasn't directly tied to Star Wars. Then, in 1992, his portrayal of the Joker gave him massive acclaim, giving him an entirely new niche as a world-class voice actor, almost universally as villains, ironically enough. Everything then came full circle when he voiced an apparition of Darth Bane in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and he later returned to the role of Luke for the Sequel Trilogy.
- Creepy High-Pitched Voice: Despite playing a lot of villains with deep voices, his trademark Joker voice is rather high-pitched, making him sound clownish yet unpleasant.
- Evil Laugh: Due to voicing The Joker since 1992, he has this down to an art formnote . It's been just more than three decades as of this last edit, and we're still not sure what he's inhaling to do these laughs. It's safe to say that his Joker laugh is among the most distinctive and iconic villainous laughs in animation history, alongside those that Lucille La Verne, Betty Lou Gerson, Pat Carroll, and Jonathan Freeman provided for Queen Grimhilde, Cruella de Vil, Ursula and Jafar, respectively.
- Evil Is Hammy: Many of his villainous roles tend to be grandiose, particularly The Joker.
- Large Ham: Absolutely, and especially when he plays villains.
- Man of a Thousand Voices: Hamill has voiced characters of remarkably different vocal ranges and types over the years. If you talked to him not knowing he was a voice actor, you'd be shocked at some of the characters he's portrayed.
- Playing Against Type:
- Ironically, his most famous role is this, as 90% of his roles nowadays are villains — some of whom, like The Joker and Fire Lord Ozai, have him on the other side of the Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred! trope, of which he was on the receiving end in said trope-naming scene.
- On the voice acting side, there's also Skips from Regular Show (who is the Only Sane Man), The Larry 3000 on Time Squad (who does amoral things and sometimes takes a level in jerkass, but isn't really a villain), and one-time character, Leavelle the Body Guard School Instructor on The Simpsons episode "Mayored to the Mob" (who does berate the students in his class, but that's more of a Drill Sergeant Nasty way). As for lesser-known characters, Hamill voiced the snack-sneaking cat Dom on the Playhouse Disney series Tasty Time with ZeFronk.
- Invincible (2021) sees him voice Art Rosenbaum, who's neither a supervillain nor a major hero, but an ordinary guy who just so happens to design costumes for superheroes.
- Possibly one of the earliest video game examples appears in Gabriel Knight: Sins Of The Fathers, where he plays neither hero nor villain, but the main character's bumbling Friend on the Force.
- Those Two Actors: With his Batman, Kevin Conroy. He would always come back to play the Joker if Conroy was portraying Batman in said particular project as Hamill had such implicit trust in Conroy's artistic integrity. With the death of Kevin Conroy in 2022, his officially stated departure from the role of the Joker is highly likely to be permanent.
- Typecasting: The poster boy of this trope. Thanks to his role as The Joker, he is often typecast into villainous roles.
- Vocal Evolution: His voice has gotten hoarser and lower-pitched as he's aged. This is especially noticeable in long-running characters like the Joker when comparing his earlier work with his more recent performances. Credit to him, the hoarser and lower pitched voice has made his Joker laugh even scarier as time has gone on.
- What Could Have Been:
- After playing the lead in Amadeus on stage, he auditioned in the hope of getting the role in Miloš Forman's movie, without success. (Of course, to be fair, the actor Forman ultimately chose — Tom "Quasimodo" Hulce — turned in a superb performance.)
- Hamill was almost tricked into appearing in the documentary The People Vs. George Lucas, but he quickly realized, even before the title was finalized, that it had an anti-Lucas vibe to it, and refused to take any part in it.
- Early in production of Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Hamill was considered for the part of Gaetan Molière, before Corey Burton got the part.
- While promoting Batman: The Killing Joke at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con, Hamill and Kevin Conroy floated the idea of them returning yet again as the Joker and Batman respectively for animated adaptations of Batman: Hush and A Death in the Family — but in the end, due to the Hush adaptation being part of the DC Animated Movie Universe and DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family being a follow-up to Batman: Under the Red Hood, they weren't cast.note
