It’s easy to forget that at its heart Star Wars is a essentially a fairy tale—one of heroes and villains, good and evil, right and wrong—which is why the characters from that galaxy far, far away tend to mean so much to kids. But one bittersweet, heartwarming story about a time Mark Hamill made a dying boy’s dream to meet Luke Skywalker come true, is a reminder that the actors who play them can be heroes too.
Screenwriter Ed Solomon (Men in Black, Now You See Me) shared a sad but touching story on Twitter about a friend’s young son who was dying from an terminal illness. The boy was a huge Star Wars fans who watched the movies every day, and his wish was to meet Luke Skywalker. Not Mark Hamill, but Luke himself, because the young man’s mental facilities had passed the point of knowing the difference between the person and the character he played. As the only friend of the family with any ties to Hollywood, Solomon reached out to see if it was possible to make the meeting happen.
Not knowing Mark, I called his agent and explained that this lovely boy watched Star Wars every day and wanted to meet NOT Mark Hammill, but, rather, the actual CHARACTER that he played (the boy's own mental state had devolved past the point of being able to grok that… 2/4
— Ed Solomon (@ed_solomon) December 4, 2017
Solomon was told it was a long shot, but Hamill responded immediately. And when “Luke Skywalker” showed up, he spent hours with his little fan.
He not only met with the boy, but spent hours answering question after question (sometimes the same ones repeatedly), AS "Luke." Even posting this now makes me teary. He was compassionate, kind, and patient. And it literally meant the world to this kid and his family. 4/4
— Ed Solomon (@ed_solomon) December 4, 2017
Not only is it okay if reading that made you tear up, we’d be surprised if it didn’t.
Hamill responded to Solomon sharing the story by saying he wishes there was more he could do to help.
There's no sweeter sound than a child laughing-I've been so lucky-feel it's my duty 2 give back in any way I can-Much prefer visits 2 hospitals than talk-shows
Heartbreaking but inspirational-makes my career seem trivial in comparison-Wish I could do moreâ¤ï¸ https://t.co/nXXutNfYsa— @HamillHimself (@HamillHimself) December 5, 2017
But Solomon followed that up by saying Hamill did do something else for the young man. The boy wanted to meet Princess Leia too, so Hamill called Carrie Fisher. She only had two questions when she heard about the situation: “where” and “when,” because the Skywalker twins are amazing people. Sadly though the young fan passed away before it could happen.
We’d like to think that not only has he met the princess now, but they can’t wait to watch The Last Jedi together. Maybe you think that’s the type of story that only works for kids, but those are our favorite kinds, because they always have the best heroes.
Do you have any stories of performers doing something beautiful for a fan? Share them with us in the comments below.
Image: Lucasfilm
