[scandox]

Well Hamill is a better man than I.

I would hate this. If I imagine being him, this is like having to turn up to the office at 7am on a Saturday for a meeting. It's work. In analogy we're watching Mark Hamill get out of bed on a weekend, groan, drink some Pepto-Bismol and get his best shit-eating grin on his face.

[the_watcher]

I assumed some knowledge of Hamill's personality (or at least the one he cultivates publicly), which is that he's a pretty big ham for this sort of thing - long attendee of fan conventions, well-known for indulging in fan service, etc. Essentially, I might agree with you for an average person, but for Hamill specifically, there's a decent amount of evidence that he'd appreciate this.

[bredren]

Apart from personality, fan engagement also drives fan enthusiasm for HIM as the on-screen portrayal of older luke. That's essentially leverage and increases his influence.

[ozaark]

The key was someone who knew him well enough to suggest a prank to begin with. That was where it became possible to delight a user with such a great outcome.

[noelwelsh]

I think most actors are people who like attention and like being around other people (sure, not all are). I imagine if you're that kind of person it is great to be in a hit film like Star Wars. You bring joy to so many people and you get all these cool interactions like the one in the post.

[aleden]

"There are no artists. We are businessmen. We're merchants. And there is no art." - Marlon Brando [1]

[1] http://m.imdb.com/title/tt4145178/quotes

[talmand]

Ah, one guy that hated his industry speaks for the industry.

[unit91]

Still, we shouldn't discount his perspective so quickly. After all, this is Marlon Brando we're talking about...

[workerIbe]

Who is well known to have been bipolar.

[aleden]

A well-known psychiatrist with bipolar disorder, Kay Jamison, published a book titled "Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament". In her own words:

"The main purpose of this book is to make a literary, biographical, and scientific argument for a compelling association, not to say actual overlap, between two temperaments- the artistic and the manic-depressive- and their relationship to the rhythms and cycles, or temperament, of the natural world. The emphasis will be on understanding the relationship between moods and imagination, the nature of moods- their variety, their contrary and opposition qualities, their flux, their extremes (causing, in some individuals, occasional episodes of 'madness')- and the importance of moods in igniting thought, changing perceptions, creating chaos, forcing order upon that chaos, and enabling transformation." (5)

Some of the persons mentioned: Byron, Tennyson, Melville, William and Henry James, Schumann, Coleridge, van Gogh, Hemingway, Virginia Wolf. I think she presents a compelling argument that extreme fluctuations in mood, when coupled with an enforced rational thinking process results in more interesting creative output. Granted, their lives may still suck.

[eon1]

And..?

[Bartweiss]

Had it not been for the email from someone Hamill knows, it seems like that would be a risk. But this wasn't just "fan sees you and butts in" it was "your friend reaches out to tell someone about a thing you like and what you'd find amusing".

[pge]

While that is probably true for most actors, Hammill tweets Star Wars trivia all the time and genuinely seems to enjoy the attention with a good sense of humor

[emeraldd]

This popped into my head when I read that comment. (Leonard Nimoy in Lazy Song ... ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dULOjT9GYdQ

[ClassyJacket]

Yeah, I feel sorry for the guy. He still is expected to do work for free promoting a movie he was in forty years ago. He must be incredibly sick of Star Wars by now.

[sp332]

You realize he was in a Star Wars movie last year, right? And he's made another one and will be shooting yet another later this year?

[the_watcher]

He's clearly not sick of it. Harrison Ford is a bigger star than Hamill, Han Solo is at least as iconic a character as Luke, yet Ford did far, far less PR around TFA than Hamill's done for TLJ. Ford is fairly well-known for being sick of Star Wars (he wanted to die in Empire), so Hamill clearly had the option of being less involved in the PR yet chose not to.

[qbrass]

Harrison Ford did well outside of Star Wars and could afford to walk away from it.

Mark Hamill's career hasn't gone as well. He would be foolish to not embrace it, even if he hated it with a passion.

[ceejayoz]

Even ignoring the new trilogy he's definitely being paid for, stuff like convention appearances can pay quite well for someone like Hamill.

[dankohn1]

He'll be at New York ComicCon, where I'll be taking my kids in October.

http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/Guests/Entertainment-Guests/

[smhenderson]

What? He's the lead role in the next Star Wars film. I can't tell if your being sarcastic or not...