Matt Margolis writes for PJMedia.com about the latest instance of celebrity silliness.
Mark Hamill, the man most famous for playing the character of Luke Skywalker, recently admitted that he nearly packed his bags after Donald Trump won re-election in 2024. Apparently, the thought of another Trump term sent the actor spiraling into the dark side, ready to abandon this country altogether. He even floated the idea past his wife, Marilou York, offering her a choice between moving to London or settling in Ireland. It’s a bold proclamation on its surface, but like so many of Hollywood’s political temper tantrums, it ended in retreat.
Hamill revealed that Marilou didn’t leap to answer his dramatic proposal. Instead, she let it breathe for a full week before giving him the sensible reality check. Her response was as simple as it was devastating to his planned escape: “I’m surprised you would allow him to force you out of your own country.” Hamill called her approach “very clever,” and he credited her with persuading him to stay. Of course, this makes his wife sound like the voice of reason in the room, but this was less about patriotic grit and more about practical self-preservation.
After all, Hamill isn’t some hot-ticket box office star anymore, and he never personally was a box office draw. His career high point will always be a trilogy that premiered nearly 50 years ago.
He knows it. We know it.
If Hamill bolted for England or Ireland, it wouldn’t exactly help his career. When you’re living off of conventions, nostalgia, and a few big-budget cameo roles to keep the checks rolling in, you can’t afford self-imposed exile across the Atlantic. So let’s not pretend that his decision to say was true conviction. It was cowardice dressed up as principle.
Still, Hamill tries to frame the entire episode as if he’s waging some noble battle against an unbearable government. He described his disgust with Trump’s administration, complaining about “the bullying, the incompetence, the people in place,” as if the existence of political leaders he dislikes is reason enough to leave the country.
This is the same routine we’ve seen for decades.
