Mark Hamill Reveals He Was Scared To Audition For The Joker After Star Wars & What Convinced Him: "Sometimes Your Anxiety Can Get The Better Of You"

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Mark Hamill recalls his Joker audition for Batman: The Animated Series and confesses he thought he wasn't going to get his now-iconic DC role. Several actors have played the Joker in live-action, including Batman's Jack Nicholson, The Dark Knight's Heath Ledger, and Joker's Joaquin Phoenix. However, the Joker is now synonymous with Mark Hamill when the Clown Prince of Crime appears in animated form.

In an episode of the Politickin podcast (via iHeart), Mark Hamill explains the process behind his Batman: The Animated Series audition. Hamill reveals that he believed his Star Wars fame was going to be an obstacle, as Luke Skywalker is a very different character from the Joker. According to Hamill, this belief led him to attend the audition without high expectations, which in turn allowed him to have fun performing. Of course, the rest is history. Read Hamill's full comments below:

So I said... I'd love to audition, but I wanted to play a villain that never been done before, ClayFace, Two Face, whatever. But they said, you have an audition for the Joker. I said, oh, it's a little too high profile. Jack Nicholson was so great and Cesar Romero... Anyway the only earlier they cast Michael Keaton as Batman, and all the Dan boys lost their minds. Oh my god, he's mister Mom. He can't be Batman, blah blah blah without seeing him play the part. Ever, so what I'm saying in that atmosphere, I said, if you think they lost their minds over mister Mom playing Batman, how are they gonna feel about Luke Skywalker playing the Joker. There's no way they can cast me. So normally you go in and if you want the part a lot, Sometimes your anxiety can get the better of you. They can sense a neediness that makes them uncomfortable. You're off your game because you're nerves or whatever. Here, I thought, well, since there's no way I can get it... I'm gonna make them sorry they can't hire me, and I just let it rip and had the greatest time in my life.

Source: iHeart