Star Wars' Andy Serkis Had A Full Conversation With Mark Hamill, Not Realizing Who He Was
In the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy, Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) is on the hunt for Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), viewing the last Jedi as the greatest threat to the First Order's ascension. "Skywalker lives!" the decrepit dark side master declares to his impudent apprentice Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). "The seed of the Jedi Order lives. As long as it does, hope lives in the galaxy."
Now, how would the Supreme Leader react if he discovered his quarry slipped right under his nose? According to Serkis, that's what happened to him. At the 2023 Star Wars Celebration, Serkis attended a "Villains" panel with Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine) and Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma). During the discussion, Serkis revealed how he met Mark Hamill during the early pre-production of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
The cast for "The Force Awakens" was announced collectively in April 2014. As Serkis recounts, the actors were invited to a group dinner at The Ivy restaurant in London. ("The Force Awakens" was shot at Pinewood Studios near the English capital.) Since they'd be working together for three movies, it made sense to start building camaraderie even before the cameras were running.
Mark Hamill sat beside Serkis, apparently eager to talk to him. According to Serkis, Hamill introduced himself as a "big fan of [his] work." Serkis blew his chance to repay the compliment. Why? He didn't recognize Hamill.
An unfortunate introduction
Andy Serkis set the scene of the dinner at The Ivy, recalling an atmosphere of excitement as the new stars like Daisy Ridley and John Boyega came in and took their seats alongside the old guard "Star Wars" actors like Harrison Ford. Then Mark Hamill started talking to Serkis. He didn't say his name — thinking for good reason he didn't need to — but Serkis' recognition failure caused a conversation to devolve into mutual confusion.
Serkis asked Hamill who he was and why he was there. Apparently, Hamill responded he was in the movie. Serkis, still not getting it, asked him what his role was in the production. Hamill finally introduced himself as "Mark." According to Serkis, the conversation proceeded as follows:
"I said, 'Yeah, I know, but what are you actually doing on the movie?' And he said, 'No, no, I'm Mark.' And I said, 'I know, but what are you actually doing on the movie?' He said, 'I'm Luke Skywalker!'"
Serkis, clearly embarrassed, didn't elaborate on what happened after that. At Star Wars Celebration, Gwendoline Christie joked, "And that's why Snoke died." Indeed, maybe it's for the best that Snoke and Luke never had a scene together.
That said, Hamill has a good sense of humor — he is the voice of the Joker, after all — and generally comes off as gracious in interviews and on social media. Since he was already a fan of Serkis, I doubt he held a grudge. I'd definitely love to hear his side of this story though.