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Mark Hamill: Every time the Star Wars legend played Luke Skywalker

Hamill has announced he is retiring from the Jedi he first played in 1977

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - JANUARY 01:  Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, during a visit to London on January 01, 1979 in London, England.  (Photo by Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)
Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, during a visit to London in 1979. (Getty Images)

Mark Hamill has admitted he has no interest in playing Luke Skywalker again.

The iconic role, first brought to life in 1977's original Star Wars, has been played by the prolific actor across a number of mediums for nearly 50 years.

Hamill played Skywalker in the original trilogy, the sequel trilogy, video games, Family Guy spoofs and numerous other Star Wars outings but now he's ready to hang up the lightsaber.

Read more: The longest gaps between actors reprising famous roles

Speaking in a recent interview with CBS, Hamill said: "Well, you never say never, but I just don’t see any reason to. Let me put it that way: I mean, they have so many stories to tell, they don’t need Luke anymore. I had my time, and that’s good. But that’s enough.”

As Hamill says goodbye to the iconic role, we have looked at every time he has played Luke Skywalker. Read on for more.

Star Wars (1977)

STAR WARS  1977  20th Century Fox film with from left: Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Alec Guiness as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Harrison Ford as Han Solo
Mark Hamill in Star Wars. (Lucasfilm)

Before Star Wars was a billion dollar franchise, it was the mad idea of George Lucas. Hosting casting sessions with Brian De Palma (who was casting Carrie simultaneously), Hamill beat out William Kait for the lead role while Kurt Russell also auditioned.

The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)

Harrison Ford, as Han Solo of “Star Wars” with Carrie Fisher in the filming of the CBS-TV special “The Star Wars Holiday” Nov. 13, 1978. Ford says he leaves the singing in the special to Carrie, who is the daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. The film will also feature many special effects not seen on the original movie. (AP Photo/George Brich)
Mark Hamill on the set of The Star Wars Holiday Special. (AP Photo)

Infamous among Star Wars, the Christmas special is something of a collector's item as it was never released commercially and currently circulates in bootleg form. Lucas had minimal involvement and Hamill and Harrison Ford never saw it.

The Story of the Faithful Wookiee (1979)

Part of the Holiday Special, it was the segment that first introduced Boba Fett to Star Wars fans and holds cult status among die hards. The only bit of the special to be released commercially. It can be found now on Disney Plus.

The Empire Strikes Back (1981)

MARK HAMILL, STAR WARS: EPISODE V - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, 1980
Mark Hamill in The Empire Strikes Back. (Lucasfilm)

Contractually obliged to return for a sequel, Hamill spent pre-production on The Empire Strikes Back bulking up and working out to deal with the action scenes that required him to do a lot more than in the first film.

Star Wars: The Original Radio Drama (1981/1983)

Mark Hamill and C-3PO's Anthony Daniels were the only original cast members to reprise their original roles in NPR's radio adaptation of the first two Star Wars movies, which were made with cooperation from George Lucas.

Return of the Jedi (1983)

STAR WARS: EPISODE VI - RETURN OF THE JED 1983 20th Century Fox film with Mark Hamill at left and David Prowse as Darth VaderI
Mark Hamill in Return of the Jedi. (Lucasfilm)

Closing out the initial trilogy, Hamill thought it would be the last time he would play Luke Skywalker and physically speaking, it was for 30 years.

Family Guy (2003)

FAMILY GUY, (from left): Chewbacca/Brian Griffin, Princess Leia/Lois Griffin, R2D2/Cleveland Brown, Han Solo/Peter Griffin,
Family Guy parodying Star Wars. (Alamy)

While Family Guy would later spoof the entire original trilogy, Hamill made a guest appearance in third season episode When You Wish Upon a Weinstein to parody a famous scene from the first movie.

The Force Awakens (2015)

MARK HAMILL, STAR WARS: EPISODE VII - THE FORCE AWAKENS, 2015
Mark Hamill in The Force Awakens, (Lucasfilm)

After Hamill was confirmed to return for the sequel trilogy, fans were eager to know what Skywalker had been up to but the Jedi only features in a cameo at the film's climax, though is central to the plot.

Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2016)

'Star Wars' goes down the anthology horror route with 'LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales'. (Disney)
Lego Star Wars. (Disney)

Despite being a prolific voice actor, the first time Hamill provided the voice to a Star Wars video game was in 2016 for the successful Lego take on The Force Awakens.

The Last Jedi (2017)

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Year : 2017 USA Director : Rian Johnson Mark Hamill
Mark Hamill in The Last Jedi. (Lucasfilm)

After only appearing in The Force Awakens in a cameo, Skywalker is essentially the main character in follow-up The Last Jedi which still remains divisive among fans. Hamill himself admitted having some misgivings over the direction of his character.

Star Wars: Forces of Destiny (2018)

An animated web series released through YouTube that is a series of shorts focussed on female characters from throughout the series, Hamill lends his voice to a few episodes.

The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

File - In this Dec. 16, 2019, file photo, Mark Hamill arrives at the world premiere of
Mark Hamill at the premiere of The Rise of Skywalker. (Alamy)

Despite dying in The Last Jedi, Skywalker becomes a force ghost in The Rise of Skywalker in what was thought to be Hamill's last appearance as the iconic character.

The Mandalorian (2020)

THE MANDALORIAN 2020 serie TV creee par Jon Favreau saison 2 Mark Hamill. Prod DB © Disney+ - Lucasfilm - Walt Disney Studios science fiction; sci fi;
Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian. (Lucasfilm)

Set between the original trilogy and sequel trilogy, the timeline of The Mandalorian allowed for the appearances of iconic characters. The biggest appearance was of course Luke Skywalker's in the finale of season two. Hamill was digitally de-aged for the show using CGI and a body double was used on set.

The Book of Boba Fett (2022)

Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in Lucasfilm's THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT, exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.
Luke Skywalker in The Book of Boba Fett. (Lucasfilm)

Repeating the same trick from sister show The Mandalorian, Hamill appeared in the series using digital effects. A synthesiser was also used on his voice to make him sound how he did in the 70s.