Comikaze Expo has announced that Luke Skywalker and the voice behind the Joker, Mark Hamill will be appearing at the Comikaze Expo during the Sushi Girl Panel November 5th-November 6th at the LA Conventer Center.
In 1977, Mark Hamill starred as Luke Skywalker in George Lucas‘ Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The film was an enormous, unexpected success and made a huge impact on the film industry. Hamill also appeared in The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) and later starred in the successful Star Wars sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi(1983).
For his portrayal of Luke Skywalker, Hamill was twice honored with the Saturn Award for Best Actor (given by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films), for his performance in both sequels.
After the success of Star Wars, Hamill found that audiences identified him very closely with the role of Luke Skywalker. He attempted to avoid typecasting by appearing in Corvette Summer (1978) and the better-known World War II film The Big Red One (1980). As the 1980s wore on, Hamill did little film work outside of Star Wars. Instead, he acted on Broadway, starring in Amadeus, The Elephant Man (for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination), and other stage plays, for which he received positive reviews.
Hamill played the villainous Hawkins in the Swedish action movie Hamilton in 1998. Some of his other film credits include The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, Britannia Hospital, Slipstream, The Guyver, and the 1995 remake of Village of the Damned. In 1990, he played an escaped mental patient who terrorizes Michael Dudikoff and his wife in Midnight Ride. He also narrated The Sci-Fi Files, a four-part documentary about the influence of science fiction upon present society. In 2001, Hamill starred in the feature film Thank You, Good Night alongside Christian Campbell, J.P. Pitoc, and Sally Kirkland. Hamill appeared in the film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and parodies Luke Skywalker.
In live-action television, Hamill had recurring roles in General Hospital and The Texas Wheelers, and a small role in The Bill Cosby Show. He appeared as the Trickster in the live-action television series of The Flash, a role he would later reprise in the animated series Justice League Unlimited. He has made cameo appearances on MADtv (where he played the estranged father of Ms. Swan), and appeared on Saturday Night Live (playing himself being sold on a Star Wars themed home shopping sale).[6] Hamill appeared on single episodes of 3rd Rock from the Sun and Just Shoot Me! He also had a guest spot on The Muppet Show as both himself and his “cousin” Luke Skywalker, along with C-3PO, Chewbacca and R2-D2. In 1986, he appeared in an episode of the TV series The Amazing Stories (“Gather Ye Acorns”) in the role of Jonathan. He also had a recurring role as Tobias LeConte on seaQuest DSV. It has been recounted by Richard Hatch that, shortly after the filming of Star Wars, Mark appeared on set for a guest appearance on Streets of San Francisco Mark was asked by Richard about recent work, to which Mark had reportedly replied “I just finished a movie called Star Wars.”
Hamill also directed and starred in the 2005 direct-to-DVD Comic Book: The Movie. A comic book fan who attended science fiction and comic conventions before he became famous, Hamill claimed that his character was based on an exaggerated version of himself. He and his crew shot most of the “mockumentary” film during the 2002 San Diego Comic-Con, and enlisted Stan Lee, Kevin Smith, and Hugh Hefner in small roles. The movie won an award for Best Live-Action DVD Premiere Movie at the 2005 DVD Exclusive Awards.
Hamill will appear as a villain in the fifth season of NBC’s show Chuck
Hamill’s acclaimed role as the Joker began in Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995), and continued to many later spin-off series, video games and films. Hamill had initially played a guest voice-role as corrupt businessman Ferris Boyle in the episode “Heart of Ice“, and was delighted when offered the role of the Joker, one of his favorite characters. The most prominent feature of his portrayal that has garnered such acclaim is his dynamic use of laughter to express the Joker’s mood. Hamill referred to the Joker’s laugh as being like a musical instrument and would practice laughing maniacally while driving to recording sessions, commenting that no one found this behavior strange in Los Angeles.
Hamill also voiced the Joker in three episodes of Superman: The Animated Series, five episodes of The New Batman Adventures, five episodes of Justice League, and an episode of Static Shock. He also voiced the Joker in the theatrical film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) and the direct-to-video film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000).[8]
The short-lived WB live action series, Birds of Prey, based on the comic book of the same title, featured a flashback sequence in which the Joker shoots Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) and paralyzes her. This sequence featured Hamill voicing the Joker, dubbed over an actor whose facial structure more resembled the character. The actor’s face was shot in the background so as to be slightly blurred. Hamill also voiced the Joker alongside his Batman: The Animated Series co-star Kevin Conroy as Batman and Jason Hillhouse as Dick Grayson in a feature of a storyboard scene included in the 2005 Special Edition DVD of Tim Burton‘s 1989 Batman film. This scene depicted the origin of Robin, which was not filmed because the producers felt it was out of place with the rest of the film.
Hamill has said that he has voiced the Joker for toys and amusement park rides. Although these jobs did not pay particularly well, he enjoyed even these small roles and admitted being protective of the character, expressing concern with others “sleeping in his sleeping bag”. He also unapologetically self-identifies as a “real comic book nerd”.[9]
Hamill has portrayed the Joker in a few Batman-themed video games, notably Batman Vengeance, the Sega CD version of The Adventures of Batman & Robin, and in Batman: Arkham Asylum. Hamill again reprised his role of The Joker in the Asylum’s sequel, Batman: Arkham City, as well as the computer and Playstation 3 MMORPG DC Universe Online.[10] In May 2010, Hamill declared to IGN UK that his role in Arkham City would be his last as the Joker.[11] In October 2011, shortly after the release of the game, he confirmed this on his Twitter account, saying “I’ve enjoyed every minute behind the wheel of the Clown Prince’s crazy car — I’m going to miss him more than I can say!!
Mark Hamill will be appearing at the SUSHI GIRL PANEL ONLY.
Tags: actor, Animated, appearance, Arkham City, Batman, comic book conventions, comic booked, Comic Books, Comic Con, Comics, comikaze, Comikaze Expo, Convention, Entertainment, Expo, los aangeles comic con, los angeles comic book convention, Mark Hamill, movies, Star Wars, star wars convention
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