Star Wars icon Mark Hamill is still full of stories that will surprise and delight fans – as he recently proved during an appearance on The Late Show with James Corden. Corden and Hamill were talking about the road to fame (and all the detours it an take); when they got to the topic of Hamill having worked as a waiter (like so many struggling actors), we got this great anecdote:
“I tried. I always was trying to find the theatrical aspect of it. You know, I worked right down the street at Jack in the Box. And I was in the back all the time, making shakes and minding the grill, and I always aspired to work the window… The one chance I had at it, it never occurred to me not to be in character as the clown, as the Jack in the Box clown! Who would want to hear [Robot voice] ‘What is your order?’ I wanted to hear [Clown voice] ‘Whats your orderrrrrrrrrr?” My manager didn’t think it was very funny: He told me to go home and never come back. I got fired! Fired for being in character! Why you… [Shakes fist] I’ll show you: One day I will be The Joker and then you’ll be sorry!”
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As you can see, Hamill is wonderfully self-aware enough to connect this low point in his journey to be a successful actor to the heights of his career. While he’s best known for playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars film franchise, Hamill has also achieved iconic fame for voicing the character of The Joker over the course of decades, dating back to the early ’90s debut of Batman: The Animated Series. In fact, if you were to take a survey amongst hardcore DC fans, it’s a pretty fair bet that you’d find Hamill’s Joker ranking in the top 3, alongside the like of Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson’s live-action versions of the character. Such is the indelible mark (pun) that Hamill has made on comic book culture – using no more than his voice and all the creative theatrics that were once so out of place at that Hollywood Jack in the Box.
The best part is: Hamill’s creative revenge isn’t yet complete: the actor is currently out promoting his new horror movie role as an re-imagined version of Chucky in the Child’s Play reboot that will be heating theaters soon. That creepy voice and laugh practiced on a Jack in the Box drive thru is still raking in the cash!
You can next catch Mark Hamill in Child’s Play on June 21st. He’ll also make an appearance as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on December 20th.
