Seldom does the actor who’s fought with a lightsaber, who’s the voice of the Clown Prince of Crime, and owns the stages of Broadway call a minor part in a Stephen King telefilm one of the most unusual experiences he’s ever had. For Mark Hamill, though, Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck was more than that which was the chance to fully lose himself in a part, and struggle with some very personal questions about legacy.
1. Fading into ‘The Life of Chuck’
Hamill’s own characterization of the character actor as “an actor who disappears, and you see only the character” does little to describe his own work in The Life of Chuck, in which in 2024 the Toronto International Film Festival Audience Award was presented and subsequently was snapped up by Neon. He’s acting in the movie as an older accountant hardly Luke Skywalker. The movie’s storyline, which was pilfered from Stephen King in the novella form, double-backs and twists in ways the audience didn’t quite see coming and explores memory, death, and footprints left behind. “It’s such an affirmation of life and love and hope,” says Hamill. “It reassures you everything’s going to be okay. You gotta believe in the inherent goodness of people, or what’s the point?”
2. The Flanagan Touch
Director Mike Flanagan, whose emotionally deep horror shows like The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass, has been a fan of King’s writing for years. His films are immersed in the cycles of grief, the aftermath of trauma, and the nature of human connection, often blurring the boundaries of the genre. Hamill credits Flanagan with thinking outside the square, providing him with “a small but unique character role” which scared him because he didn’t quite understand straight off who the character was. That confusion, he recalls, brought him back to the experience of acting looking in the mirror and not knowing who he was.
3. Defending Movies’ Biggest Secret
Long before accountants and horror movies, Hamill was entrusted with one of all-time great surprises in the history of Hollywood. During the making of The Empire Strikes Back, then-director Irvin Kershner went against the then-traditional script argument that Obi-Wan murdered Luke’s padre with the now-classic “I am your father” instead. Hamill kept the secret for more than a year and a half and didn’t even inform Harrison Ford. “You didn’t even tell me,” grumped Ford at the première. Hamill was afraid he’d blurt it in his sleep.
4. The Art of Disappearing in Animation
Having his experience in acting for his voice, in particular with the Joker in the Batman: The Animated Series, brought artistic freedom beyond the realm of physicality. “Nobody ever thought that it was me,” he says. Animation, he feels, puts all the actors in the position of character actors right away so that they can get a chance at parts that they wouldn’t even be approached for in front of the camera. He loves the medium because it’s something with integrity and the loving community it’s got.
5. AI Actors: ‘Terrible Ghosts of the Future’
Hamill’s tone turns more disapproving in the case of AI-created actors like Tilly Norwood. “It’s terrifying,” he says. He feels the same unease as scholars like Maite Soto-Sanfiel, who asserts that reanimating deceased actors misbehaves with memories and disrespects the past. Such instances like James Earl Jones’s AI-recaptured Darth Vader voice and CGI reanimation of Ian Holm in Alien: Romulus have sparked controversy over consent, ethics, and whether such things respect or exploit legacies. Hamill questions if future consent agreements allowing himself to be digitally reanimated at age 28 would respect his wishes or simply enrich corporate nostalgia.
6. The Ethical Crossroads
The industry’s AI evolution is rapid. From de-aging Harrison Ford to digitally reviving Peter Cushing, studios are pushing boundaries. Laws now require strict family consent for resurrecting deceased actors, but as Soto-Sanfiel notes, “Any law passed today could become outdated within five years.” For Hamill, the ominous potential lies in sidelining living actors while endlessly recycling the past.
7. Stephen King’s Versatility
One key in the success in The Life of Chuck was King’s range. Despite regularly being referred to as a writer in the horror genre, King’s books like The Shawshank Redemption., Stand By Me ‘‘, and The Green Mile show his range beyond the genre. In the book, references are made to King’s enjoyment of the existential mystery novel books raising the big questions and answering with no cheap payoff, like in King’s more recent You Like It Darker short story collection.
8. Legacy and Letting Go
His wife prefers The Life of Chuck as his finest work and such a verdict carries more with him than any honor. Whatever his eventual arc in The Last Jedi, he’s complete with Luke Skywalker. “I’m fine. I’d had my moment. Now the focus should be the current and future actors and I hope they have the same fun that I’d had.”
That mindset shows his hesitation at AI recreations act-ing for him’s still about the presence, breath, and life of the human, and not programs. For cinephiles, Hamill’s shift from defending the galaxy to defending the soul of acting is more than nostalgia it’s a reminder that the magic in acting’s in the living moment, and some legacies are left better in human hands.
