The Simpsons Character You Likely Forgot Mark Hamill Played
Legendary actor Mark Hamill is mostly known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the "Star Wars" franchise, starting in 1977's "Episode IV — A New Hope." He would go on to play the role in various sequels, spin-offs, video games, and series through the following decades, as recently as an episode of the 2022 Disney+ show "The Book of Boba Fett." So, yeah, Luke gets around.
What some don't know, however, is that Hamill's resume goes light-years beyond "Star Wars." IMDb lists over 350 credits to the actor's name, which is a lot in any galaxy — and not all of them are for playing Luke Skywalker. His other parts may not carry the same weight, but it's still a most impressive body of work. A lot of his success has come as a voice artist, as Hamill has done work for many animated shows and films. His many turns as The Joker in a variety of animated "Batman" projects have been particularly popular. And here you thought he never embraced the dark side.
Yes, Hamill even has an episode of the long-running animated sitcom "The Simpsons" under his belt. In the Season 10 episode titled "Mayored to the Mob," Hamill makes his way to Springfield. But as "The Simpsons" has produced over 700 episodes (with many different guest stars), you can be forgiven if you can't recall the character he played.
Mark Hamill played none other than Mark Hamill on The Simpsons
That's right: Mark Hamill played a Simpson-ized version of himself on the show, and it isn't exactly subtle seeing as he's even dressed like Luke Skywalker. Basically, he shows up in town as part of a fanboy convention, and after first trying to save everyone 17 cents a month on their phone network plans by switching to Sprint, he accidentally starts a riot by asking for a volunteer to act out "Star Wars" with him — for the record, Groundskeeper Willie (Dan Castellaneta) throws the first punch. Then Homer (also Castellaneta) rescues a cowering Hamill and Mayor Quimby (Castellaneta once again). All of this is, of course, just an excuse to demonstrate that Homer makes a great bodyguard, which is the actual plot of the episode.
But Hamill returns later, getting shoehorned into a "Guys and Dolls" song and dance number (again dressed as Skywalker), where, for some reason, he ends up singing "Luck Be a Lady Tonight" as "Luke Be a Jedi Tonight." Naturally, this happens as mob boss Fat Tony (Joe Mantegna) instructs a lackey to kill Mayor Quimby, forcing his new bodyguard Homer to fight off the assassin. This leads to Hamill imploring Homer to "use the forks," referring to some nearby silverware. It's about as good a use of an animated Mark Hamill as you'll ever see — although, the live-action one who officiates Sheldon's (Jim Parsons) wedding on "Big Bang Theory" is pretty good too.
Clearly, Hamill is a good sport regarding his most iconic role. "The Simpsons" just made him prove it.