Mark Hamill Still Upset by the 'Star Wars' Prequel Backlash
Mark Hamill has long been a defender of George Lucas’s prequel trilogy, and 18 years after the release of Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, he still takes the insults personally. In an interview with Vulture at the Sundance Film Festival, where he was promoting his comedy Brigsby Bear, the man who plays Luke Skywalker said that he still can’t fathom the vitriol directed at the films.
Related: Mark Hamill Remembers Carrie Fisher, Says Star Wars: Episode VIII Will Have an ‘Air of Melancholy It Doesn’t Deserve’
In particular, Hamill said, he’s “still angry” about the criticism directed at young Phantom Menace star Jake Lloyd. “He was only 10 years old, that boy, and he did exactly what George wanted him to do,” Hamill said in Lloyd’s defense, adding, “Believe me, I understand clunky dialogue.”
Despite Hamill’s firm pro-prequel stance (he likes the Special Editions, too), he says the haters, including the makers of the documentary The People vs. George Lucas, have tried to bait him into saying unkind things about them. “I almost got hornswaggled into that documentary. … I have issues with George, but I love that man. I would never! And I don’t talk outside the family,” he said.
His main takeaway from the prequel hate? Hollywood is a vicious place. “It’s just brutal. One of the reasons I would never let my kids be in show business,” he said.
Watch the full interview clip at Vulture.
Related: Mark Hamill on Playing With the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Ball Droid and Singing for Elf
Watch Hamill’s reaction to the Episode VIII subtitle, The Last Jedi:
