By: Dominic Jones
Luke Skywalker actor, Mark Hamill is making his first convention in Canada this weekend at Fan Expo Canada in Toronto. Hamill took the stage earlier tonight for fan Q&A to discuss his career, including his work in Star Wars, Batman, The Flash, and more. Mark was in fine form, monologuing about his life and career for the 40 minutes of 60 minute Q&A, without taking a single question! Below, are some highlights from this event,
Hamill was introduced by Innerspace hosts AJ Fry and Morgan Hoffman, who asked everyone in the audience to tweet the following as Mark came out on stage,
— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
Once he took the stage, Mark began to tell stories as no one else can,
Hamill says he is a "kindred spirit" and describes the first con he went to as a fan in the early 70s #FanExpoCan#StarWars— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
Hamill recreates his classic Simpsons scene (doing all the voices himself) #FanExpoCan#StarWars— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
Mark pays tribute to the late Kenny Baker by talking about the time he saw Kenny's stage show during the production of #StarWars in '77— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
@TheSWU The Minitones, they were on the verge of the big time when Star Wars came a calling— Ian Ericson (@iperic) September 2, 2016
Mark says he wore his Godzilla t-shirt to visit the #RogueOne set (to "shamelessly pander to Gareth Edwards) #FanExpoCanada#StarWars— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
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| Mark with Rogue One director Gareth Edwards during his set visit |
Mark says Gareth told him "5 words were that were the biggest spoiler"...but won't tell us for another year or so what they were #RogueOne— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
Mark describes how he had to hide his costume at Pinewood during TFA filming, because of drones #StarWars#FanExpoCan— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
Mark: "I love when false information leaks"#StarWars#FanExpoCan— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
Mark on why they kept the ESB reveal from Dave Prowse: because he "leaks like a siv"#StarWars#FanExpoCan— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
Apparently Prowse told a bunch of reporters about the reveal after an advanced screening and Fox had to beg them not to run the story— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
Mark: The secrecy is getting ridiculous, but anything he says gets over analyzed so he likes to mess with fans #StarWars#FanExpoCan— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
Mark referenced these two tweets in particular when he discussed messing with fans about spoilers on social media,
Happiest of Birthdays to the Finn-tastic @JohnBoyega a swell fella who's just sonsational in #EP8 Hmmm-Typo or spoiler? YOU decide! #Troll— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) March 17, 2016
Happy Birthday Oscar! I'd say you're my son's age, but fear being accused of accidentally leaking "spoilers"#EPVIIIhttps://t.co/LY7FdgyUX6— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) March 10, 2016
From there, Mark moved on to talking about his other projects for a bit, including his role as the Joker on Batman: The Animated Series. He revealed he thought when auditioned that he would never be given the role of The Joker because he was Luke Skywalker,
Mark says he thought there was no way Luke Skywalker could be cast as The Joker. He thought it would be a PR nightmare! #FanExpoCan— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
He returned to Star Wars however when fans got their chance to ask questions, discussing how he learned about Episode VII, interesting fan encounters, and Episode VIII,
Mark says the best part about coming back to #StarWars was how unexpected it was #FanExpo2016— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
Mark recalls being invited to lunch with GL and Carrie, and thinking it would GL asking them to help promote the 3D re-release #StarWars— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
GL told them they wouldn't recast them if they didn't want to be in it. Carrie said yes three seconds after being asked #StarWars— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
Fan asks Mark what's his favourite #StarWars film? Mark says he hates to pick a favourite, but if he has to it's 'Empire'#FanExpoCan— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
Mark says he met someone who named their kid "Artoo"#FanExpo2016#StarWars— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
Fan asks Mark what colour lightsaber he wants? Mark says he wants a rainbow lightsaber #StarWars#FanExpoCan— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
Mark: I'm contractually forbidden to talk about #EpisodeVIII (Then he did the Joker laugh!) #StarWars#FanExpoCan— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
Mark says all the secrecy is not about annoying fans, it's about saving the reveals for the film (not the internet) #StarWars#FanExpoCan— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
It's a wrap for Mark Hamill's #FanExpo panel! Thank you @HamillHimself for a fabulous show! #StarWars— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) September 2, 2016
Of all the actors I've seen speak at conventions (both from Star Wars and other franchises), no one quite knows how to put on a show like Mark Hamill. Even though he couldn't say anything about the future, Mark still told compelling stories in a fun, energetic, and engaging way.
Fan Expo is on all weekend at Metro Toronto Convention Center. Other Star Wars events this weekend include the North American premiere of Season Three of Star Wars Rebels and a Q&A with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story star Alan Tudyk (K-2SO).
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