Star Wars: Mark Hamill Details How a ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ Icon Helped Him Earn ‘Star Wars’ Role

Joining the cast of Star Wars became a career-defining moment for many of the film’s young stars, with the portrayal of their respective characters and chemistry with their co-stars earning admiration for decades. Many fans are aware that a number of other actors almost earned coveted roles, like Kurt Russell, Cindy Williams, and Sylvester Stallone, while it was one actor who can take credit for alerting Mark Hamill to the opportunity to audition: A Nightmare on Elm Street‘s Robert Englund. Hamill recently shared the details of how the friendship led to him securing the role.

“We were hanging out at the time and, in Hollywood, you don’t tell your friends about a role until you’ve been rejected yourself,” Hamill detailed to Sway’s Universe. “So he went on, I think he went out for Han Solo, and he said, ‘Hey, there’s this movie called “Star Wars,” and George Lucas is doing it,’ and I knew him from American Graffiti. He said, ‘You really should check it out.’”

Englund has regularly claimed credit for helping Hamill become aware of the part, yet Hamill clarified he wasn’t the only one that informed him of the opportunity.

“He’s written about it in his books and I love Robert but, the thing is, my agent, when I called her, she said, ‘I already have an audition for you set up,’” Hamill confessed. “Gary Busey told me about it, because I was working with him, he was playing my older brother. I heard it from like five or six different people, but I don’t want to take it away from Robert,because that’s his thing, you know?”

Englund earned his career-defining opportunity in 1984 when he became Freddy Krueger in Wes Craven’s slasher film. It might be difficult to compare the popularities of the two characters, but Englund went on to appear in seven sequels.

“It’s embellished over the years to the point that we were roommates–we were never roommates,” Hamill joked. “The story just grows and grows and grows. He’s the first one I heard it from, I have to tell you. He’s not getting ten percent, but he gets credit.”

Hamill was most recently seen in The Last Jedi, which is available on Digital HD and Blu-ray now.

Which character do you think is more iconic, Luke Skywalker or Freddy Krueger? Let us know in the comments below!

[H/T YouTube, Sway’s Universe]