Especially for horror fans, Robert Englund is a real bright spot. Englund immortalized himself with his performances as Freddy Krueger in the A Nightmare On Elm Street franchise. Before the actor became a superstar under the direction of Wes Craven, he tried out for a role in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now”, among other things. Nothing came of it, but his efforts mattered – to Mark Hamill.
In the end, “Apocalypse Now” didn’t work out, as Robert Englund opposite told, however, that a casting agent could envision Englund as a part in a space adventure. The casting took place across the street from the “Apocalypse Now” audition – and of course it was Star Wars aka Star Wars.
How Robert Englund brought Mark Hamill to ‘Star Wars’
Robert Englund also went to the “Star Wars” casting, but according to the actor himself, in the end only a Polaroid was made of him, after which he was allowed to go home. And here’s where it gets interesting, because Robert Englund was the person who put Mark Hamill on Star Wars in the first place:
“I’m a character actor, so I didn’t think about it but when I got back to my apartment, Mark was standing there with a Heineken and saw Bob Newhart. I told him about ‘Star Wars’ and he picked up the phone and called his agent.”
Mark Hamill has personally confirmed that Robert Englund is not spouting nonsense via confirmed: “Robert was one of many actors who told me about ‘Star Wars’. When I told my agent about this, she had already arranged an audition and is still angry that he is taking the credits.”
A horror icon actually played a key role in Mark Hamill having “Star Wars” on screen in the first place. And in the end, the story didn’t just end well for Hamill, who would go on to make movie history as Luke Skywalker. Englund also deserves a pat on the back for introducing Hamill to Star Wars. Even if Hamill’s agent already arranged an audition.