A 'Nightmare on Elm Street' star helped Mark Hamill land his 'Star Wars' role
[Photo by: Freddy Krueger/New Line Cinema, Luke Skywalker/Lucasfilm]
Who knew Freddy Krueger himself would help Mark Hamill land the role of a lifetime?
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When Mark Hamill landed the gig as Luke Skywalker, nobody could have imagined the major impact that this moment would have on us all. With five, and counting, movies under his belt, we couldn't imagine Luke being play by anyone other than Hamill, and we have one actor in particular to thank for giving Hamill the tip that the film was auditioning: Robert Englund.
For those of us who are totally obsessed with both the Star Wars and A Nightmare on Elm Street franchises, hearing the news that Robert Englund, who plays Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare franchise, actually had a hand at helping Mark Hamill land the role of Luke Skywalker is pretty cool.
In a recent interview with Sway's Universe, Hamill shared how just how Englund helped him secure his 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 said. “So he went on, I think he went out for Han Solo, and he said, 'Hey, there's this movie called Star Wars, George Lucas is doing it.' I knew him from American Graffiti. He said, 'You really should check it out.'”
While Englund has credited himself for making the auditions known, Hamill did mention that Englund wasn't the only person responsible for letting him know the role was open.
“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 said. “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?”
Hamill continued on to say:
“It's embellished over the years to the point that we were roommates, we were never roommates,” Hamill said. “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.”
The story may have been embellished over the years, but who wouldn't want to brag about helping Mark Hamill land his a career-defining role as Luke Skywalker?
Having “helping people who are majors stars get their start” isn't the only thing Englund can check off his impressive resume. Landing his career-defining role in 1984, Englund began working in Wes Craven's classic slasher A Nightmare On Elm Street as the movie's killer, Freddy Krueger.
While this pair went on two very different career paths, we're beyond happy that they crossed paths.
You can check out Hamill's interview below! He starts to talk about Englund around 17:04.
