Social media has brought filmmakers closer to their fans in ways never thought imaginable, though sometimes the services work to bring together celebrities for unexpected encounters. Earlier this year, Star Wars actor Mark Hamill and Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn discussed possibly meeting up in real life, with Hamill confirming that potential acting roles never became the topic of conversation.
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“[Wife] Marilou [Hamill] and I had him down for a barbeque and we didn’t talk about the movie. We talked about living in Malibu and our relatives and pets. It never really came up,” Hamill admitted to Collider. “But that’s the way it should be. I didn’t want to strong arm him, in any way. So, I like the movies, they’re fun, but I’m happy to be in the audience. There’s a lot less pressure. That’s why I liked Solo and Rogue One so much. There was 100 percent less Hamill so I didn’t have any sort of anxiety. I could just be in the audience, it was great.”
The exchange began when a fan tagged both Gunn and Hamill on Twitter to ask the Guardians director if there would be a role for the actor in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The two then began discussing how close their houses were to one another, ultimately leading towards the duo meeting up, which was confirmed via photos posted on social media.
As far as how the dialogue escalated, Hamill said it was out of pure boredom.
“I was just sitting there you know as I do, I used to do crossword puzzles or the jumble and now I’ll have Twitter on and some person said, ‘Hey James why don’t you put Mark Hamill in the next Guardians of the Galaxy?’ And to my surprise, James answered, ‘Well he lives right around the corner, maybe we’ll have coffee and we’ll talk about it,” Hamill shared on the red carpet of the Oscar Wilde Awards in March. “So, I answered. I said, ‘I would be happy to do so not only as a good neighbor but as an unemployed actor.’”
While we shouldn’t expect to see Hamill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe anytime soon, he pointed out that he’s played a variety of Marvel characters.
“I’ve done lots of Marvel Universe, in animation, there’s nothing live-action,” Hamill detailed. “Well, listen, if you have any friends at Disney, pull some strings.”
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is expected to hit theaters on 2020, with or without Hamill.
Would you like to see Hamill portray a character in the MCU? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!
[H/T Collider]
