Mark Hamill may have closed the door on ever playing Luke Skywalker in a Star Wars movie again, but he sure could have used the force when presenting a BAFTA Award!
73-year-old Hamill told “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert about an embarrassing moment on stage at the awards show, and its connection to actress Demi Moore.
According to the “Star Wars” legend, he had tried on the suit he planned to wear to the awards at his California home, and made a note to his tailor that his pants seemed a little tight.
“Cut to us in London, the car outside 20 minutes before we are supposed to leave,” Hamill continued. “I put the pants on, he let them out four or five inches!”
“Luckily, our dresser, Mary, had a safety pin and she pinned them in the back, and so I thought I was good to go,” he continued. “They introduced me, and as I started walking to the podium, I feel the pin pop!”
What happened next was blocked from the television audience by the podium, but members of the audience sitting on the sides could see all too well.
“They were at my knees by the time I got to the podium,” Hamill told Colbert. “When they went to the clip, I looked over to find my wife, but my eyes landed on Demi Moore. So I mouthed to Demi Moore, ‘Did you see my pants fall down?'”
According to Hamill, Demi smiled and gave him a big double thumbs up.
Colbert Had High Praise for How Hamill Handled Wardrobe Malfunction
Stephen Colbert had high praise for Mark Hamill’s ability to stay on script at the BAFTAs as his pants sunk to his knees.
In the video, Mark pulls his pants up while continuing to read the teleprompter, never missing a beat.
“I’m telling you, I just willed myself. It was like hypnosis. I was trying to beam into the audience, ‘You did not see my pants fall down, it’s all an illusion.'”
Alas, Hamill’s efforts to use the Force failed him once again.
In fact, he said actor Timothée Chalamet came up to him after the show to offer praise. “[He] came up to me at the after party and said, ‘Dude, that was a masterclass in professionalism.'”
Still, Hamill says his hope was not that he’d be praised, but that it wouldn’t be noticed. “I thought, if I don’t acknowledge it and act like nothing happened, maybe there’s enough delusional people in the audience that didn’t see it.”
Hamill Says His ‘Star Wars’ Days Are Over
The wardrobe malfunction isn’t the only thing Hamill is trying to put in the past.
Force or no force, the actor says his “Star Wars” days are over.
In an interview with ComicBook.com, Mark Hamill says he’s closed the book on his Luke Skywalker days.
“I am so grateful to George [Lucas] for letting me be a part of that back in the day, the humble days when George called Star Wars ‘the most expensive low-budget movie ever made,’” Hamill said in the interview.
“We never expected it to become a permanent franchise and a part of pop culture like that. But my deal is, I had my time. I’m appreciative of that, but I really think they should focus on the future and all the new characters.”
Again, wardrobe comes into play in this decision as well, with Hamill saying, “And by the way, when I disappeared in [The Last Jedi], I left my robes behind. And there’s no way I’m gonna appear as a naked Force ghost.”
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Mark Hamill Desperately Needed the Force at BAFTAS