Mark Hamill Attacks and Hustles His Fans

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Has Mark Hamill lost his mind, or is the real man just now coming out? We’ve had to ask this of a lot of people in the past decade or so, celebrities and average Joes alike, but it’s disheartening when someone who was once universally loved becomes so angry, bitter, and obsessed with partisan politics that he attacks large contingents of his fans, politicizes something that was once for everyone, and makes you regret seeing his name pop up in a headline or on social media. (In that vein, I’ve unfollowed many famous accounts that have become unbearable over the last few years, guys who once made me laugh and now won’t let themselves be funny anymore.)  Hamill, for the imaginary people I’m making up who may not know, played – and sometimes still plays, in a manner of speaking – Luke Skywalker, the main hero of the Star Wars films (no matter what anyone tells you). He also lends his considerable vocal talents to various animated productions and video games, most notably as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series and other Batman and DC ventures. He’s played one of Western culture’s greatest heroes and greatest villains and did both superbly; he has also demonstrated clear love for those properties, defending Star Wars’ integrity against Disney and a certain arrogant filmmaker. He’s a guy it’s difficult not to love.

Or he used to be, anyway. Mark Hamill has been steadily showing a dark side (sue me) of himself lately, and the triggering incident was, as it always seems to be, Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States and continued presence on the political scene, which may result in a second non-consecutive term as President in the near future. And this goes well beyond mere political opinions, which we all have and which we’ve grown accustomed to celebrities being incapable of keeping to themselves. The earliest bit of outright nastiness I can recall came in 2019, while Trump was still in office, when his daughter Ivanka shared a picture of her young son dressed as a Stormtrooper from Star Wars for Halloween on what was then Twitter. Hamill retweeted Invanka’s picture of her child and commented disparagingly:

You misspelled “Fraud.”#GoForceYourself https://t.co/ORY6eeyGgj

— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) September 29, 2019

That I am able to embed this tweet-turned-X-post tells you that Mark Hamill has never taken it down, seemingly not regretting targeting a little boy whose great sin is being his grandfather’s grandson. I get it; you hate Trump and everything to which his name is attached. Is it rational for that hatred to be so great that you can’t control yourself long enough simply to skip past a child playing dress-up on Halloween? I guess it must be, which would be frightening if it weren’t so ubiquitous on Hamill’s side of the fence. This continued in the years following, and in 2024, Hamill has gone completely bonkers. He mocked the wound Trump sustained on his ear during an assassination attempt that killed a man and wounded others in the crowd (which Gina Carano admirably countered). He’s been heavily promoting the Democrats, first Joe Biden and now Kamala Harris. It’s been sad, especially since he keeps invoking Star Wars while doing it, but whatever; those are his beliefs, and I guess if Hulk Hogan can give a speech for Trump, it’s fair game. But now, he’s crossed over to attacking Star Wars fans directly if they don’t share his politics:

This isn’t at the Democratic National Convention, or some political rally, or even on his personal social media account. This is at the Chicago Fan Expo in Chicago, a place where people went to see him because they love Luke Skywalker.  And their reward for showing up was having Mark Hamill tell half of them to “go Force [themselves].” In that video, Hamill is echoing comments he made at another event:

Why is it acceptable @Lucasfilm/@starwars for @MarkHamill to make political social media posts, and statements such as this video below at a Fan Convention. He’s currently involved in your projects. Are you going to cancel him like you did @ginacarano? #JusticeForGinaCarano pic.twitter.com/5nvCNGF21C

— Ash (@RoarAshley) August 19, 2024

To put this into some context, at the same Chicago Fan Expo where he told many of his fans what to do with themselves based on their political beliefs (we know what “Force” means in this context), he charged a pretty penny for his autograph:

Mark Hamill has got to be kidding me. Sorry bro, you’re not a 400-700$ actor. pic.twitter.com/2SAZ7e5xNZ

— Lily* (@300mirrors) August 18, 2024

How much do you want to bet Mark Hamill uses the talking points about Trump favoring the rich and abandoning the poor and working class? I guess irony can’t survive in the vacuum of space, either. And I do think this is much more egregious than his previous comments, awful as they were (except maybe the post about Trump’s grandson), because this is Hamill taking the fight to his fans. He’s expressly telling anyone who disagrees with him politically that Star Wars is not for them, and he’s doing it at a fan convention while charging outrageous prices for his autograph to stick it to anyone who still wants his signature on a lightsaber. And that’s what I mean when I ask if this is a new development for Hamill or who he’s always been deep down. The political stuff could be brought on by his intense dislike for Trump (and his popularity), but it takes something else to squeeze that much money out of your fans, many of whom probably can’t afford it, especially thanks to the politicians you support. I don’t think that comes about all of a sudden; that’s who a man is in his heart. And it sucks.

Let us know what you think of Mark Hamill’s emerging ugliness in the comments!