Star Wars: Mark Hamill reveals VITAL Luke Skywalker realisation – 'It just hit me'

Reflecting on the impact of the saga while speaking on Seth Meyers’ US chatshow last night, the star spoke about when he first read the script.

It was then when it dawned on him that what made Star Wars so special was its warm, “human” sense of humour.

But Luke’s role was not to deliver those punch-lines, but to fill the archetypal “straight man” role.

Hamill explained: “What’s amazing to me is that I was just overwhelmed because I got the part without having read the script.

“So I didn’t know what the style was – send-up like Mel Brooks or what.

“Then when I read it, it just hit me. I thought, ‘this is more like Wizard Of Oz than traditional science fiction’.

“I mean 2001 [A Space Odyssey] is a stone cold classic – a laugh riot it ain’t.

“But this one was so funny, on a human level.

“We risk our lives to rescue the princess, she takes a look at what we came in, and says, ‘you came in that?!’ And robots are arguing over whose fault it is!”

STAR WARS: MARK HAMILL SPEAKS OUT ON “BRAVE” LUKE

But every comedy needs the archetypal “straight man” for the humour to play off – and Hamill soon realised that this is what Luke’s role was.

“I know I was the straight man. I thought, ‘every part is funnier than mine’.

“But if you appreciate comedy you realise what Bud Abbott is doing for Lou Costello.

“When you say to C-3PO, ‘that friend of yours is gonna get me in a lot of trouble’, and he says ‘oh he excels at that sir’… you know, you line it up for them and they knock it out of the park!”

Hamill quipped: “But leave it to George Lucas to write a script where the robots get better lines than me!”

Hamill’s Luke Skywalker was seen peacefully dying at the end of 2017’s The Last Jedi, but he will return in some capacity in The Rise of Skywalker at the end of the year.

The first title and teaser trailer were revealed last week, featuring Luke’s voiceover.

The film will be the end of the Skywalker Saga, although separate new trilogies are in the pipeline for after that.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is out on December 19.