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Mark Hamill gives two Forced reasons for his absence from The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special
When it comes to the Star Wars Holiday Special, Mark Hamill's thoughts betray him.
With LEGO's satirical take on the Star Wars Holiday Special premiering last month on Disney+ to rave reviews, an inquiring fan couldn't resist asking Luke Skywalker's real-life alter-ego if he didn't voice the iconic character in LEGO's production because he wanted no part in another holiday special.
So Hamill set the record straight on Twitter with a pithy response that poked fun at the much maligned original, while also revealing just why he doesn't appear in LEGO's version – and it's not because he was busy going up to Tosche Station to pick up some power converters.
Alas, it appears Hamill was simply not invited to the holiday party. Instead, voice actor Eric Bauza, who has portrayed Luke in various other LEGO Star Wars productions, ably played the part.
While he knows a thing or two about classics, having starred in 1977's A New Hope and its five sequels, Hamill will also always be forever linked to the notorious clunker that was 1978's Star Wars Holiday Special. Airing on CBS, the ill-fated production was so disastrously bad, not only did critics and fans alike universally hate it, but Jedi mastermind George Lucas once vowed never to air it again.
Consequently, the original never was released to home video and has acquired the status of a cult film among Star Wars fans, with bootleg copies circulating underground before popping up unauthorized on YouTube in the Internet age (of course, when it features jarring appearances from non-Star Wars folk Bea Arthur and Art Carney as well as bands like Jefferson Starship, it's pretty much bound for the garbage chute, though to be fair it did give us our first glimpse of Boba Fett and Chewy's family and home on Kashyyk).
While the Force was sadly not with Hamill on this Life occasion, it's nice to know he was good humored about not getting the call. After all, he is, of course, a voice acting legend in his own right.
The thesp most famously breathed cartoon life into The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series and its various incarnations including animated movies and video games, and recently voiced Chucky in the Child's Play reboot. He even had a hidden voice cameo in Disney+'s The Mandalorian and, by his own admission, is "vocally represented" in every Star Wars film save the prequels.
Having better luck was fellow Star Wars big screen cast members Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams, and Kelly Marie Tran, all of whom returned to voice LEGO-fied versions of their respective characters C-3PO, Lando Calrissian, and Rose Tico.
The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special is now streaming on Disney+.
