Mark Hamill Has Been Haunted By This One Star Wars Line For A Long Time
Actor Mark Hamill was only 25 when he filmed George Lucas' sci-fi fantasy film "Star Wars" in 1976. His character, an aggressively normal farm kid sporting the grandiose name of Luke Skywalker, resented his boring life on a desert planet called Tattooine and longed for something more. His opportunity to touch a larger galaxy came when he discovered a holographic message — from a beautiful space princess — hidden inside a recently purchased droid. From there, he sought information about a raging war in the heavens above. A brave fleet of Rebels had unified against a dark fascist Empire. Both sides, it seems, had sword-wielding wizards.
In the early scenes of "Star Wars," Luke is impetuous, bratty, even annoying. This is, of course, by design. Luke is supposed to be immature at that point in his story, concerned only with his own desires. When his uncle Owen (Phil Brown) implores that Luke take a pair of droids to their garage to get them cleaned up, Luke objects. "But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!" Luke whines the line, extremely put out that he won't be able to visit what sounds like the "Star Wars" version of a mall or exciting hardware store.
Hamill's whine was deliberate; he knew how to play the scene. It was, however, a hair too whiny for some "Star Wars" fans, and it began to circulate among the growing cult of Starwoids as one of the more risible lines in the movie. Like everything in "Star Wars," the Tosche Station line was put under a microscope. Some enterprising fans eventually made a dance remix many years later.
In a 2013 AMA on Reddit, Hamill was still being asked about the line. As it turns out, it's been haunting him for decades.
As juvenile as possible
A Reddit user asked Hamill, in a joking fashion, if he was still upset that he wasn't able to pick up those power converters. Hamill replied:
"I get ribbed for that line because it was so whiney. And I remember at the time, I had to make it as juvenile as possible so that I can show how Luke matures later. So it should be embarrassing. It should be whiney and childish. But boy, has it come back to haunt me. I don't think I ever got the chance to finally pick them up."
One can respect Hamill for playing the scene correctly, but that doesn't mean he didn't elicit snickers for years and years and years. In the Year of Our Lord 2023, once can only imagine that Hamill has been asked about it even more.
Some deep-cut Starwoids hastened to point out that Tosche Station was a popular hangout on Tatooine, similar to an open garage where the local hot-rodders would go to enhance their vehicles. This makes sense when one considers that George Lucas' previous film was the hot rod-centric "American Graffiti." It was also backed up by Uncle Owen's line of dialogue "You can waste time with your friends when your chores are done."
While there were some deleted "Star Wars" scenes shot at Tosche Station, the popular hangout would not be seen on camera until recently, as it was a location on the second episode of the new series "The Book of Boba Fett," called "The Tribes of Tattooine." In that episode, the Station was populated by biker gangs. Luke, it seems, ran with some rough customers.