San Diego Names Street In Mark Hamill’s Honor

To honor one of its most famous former residents, the city of San Diego paid its respects to Star […]

September 5, 2017, 2:36pm

To honor one of its most famous former residents, the city of San Diego paid its respects to Star Wars icon Mark Hamill by proclaiming July 31 “Mark Hamill Day” while also naming one of its residential streets after him.

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“I can’t tell you how great it feels to be back in my old neighborhood,” Hamill said while addressing the crowd of nearly 1,000, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. “To say that I am grateful would be an understatement.”

Councilman Chris Cate bestowed the honor upon the actor, granting the actor the opportunity to unveil a curtain on the street sign that was revealed to say “Honorary Mark Hamill Dr.” During the reveal, the curtain apparently got snagged, when San Diego Police Lt. Dan Grubbs handed Hamill a green lightsaber from the crowd to help him remove the curtain.

“It was awesome!” Grubbs said of his participation in the momentous event. “I grew up here, so it was great.”

The actor lived there during middle school and his freshman year of high school before moving to Virginia, as his dad was in the Navy, which required regular moves across the country. Hamill explained to the crowd that what made the honor so special is that the character of Luke Skywalker has been emblazoned on all sorts of merchandise, but this is one of the few occasions where the actor behind the character was paid tribute.

Hamill will next be seen reprising his role of Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi, which opens on December 15.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the second film in the new Star Wars sequel trilogy that began with Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. The film will deal with Luke training Rey to become a, and possibly the last, Jedi. Meanwhile, the Resistance, including Poe Dameron and First Order defector Finn, continues to fight against the First Order, led by General Hux, while Supreme Leader Snoke and his Dark Side follower Kylo Ren continue their mysterious plot.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is written and directed by Rian Johnson and stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Andy Serkis, Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern, and Kelly Marie Tran.