Luke Skywalker is one of those iconic characters that everyone can recognize, whether you’ve seen a Star Wars movie or not. As the story goes, Luke is an orphaned twink living isolated with his relatives until a series of odd events reveal that he’s an intergalactic superhero of sorts. Lightsaber, spaceship blaster, a princess and hunky Han Solo and the universe is saved! It really is a simple story, and it has ultimately become one of the highest grossing movie series of all time.
Perhaps no one knows the character of Luke Skywalker better than the actor Mark Hamill. Well, Hamill and screenwriter George Lucas, really. Hamill has played Skywalker in almost every Star Wars film including A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. Hamil, age 71, even portrayed the character in a Christmas special and voiced the young Jedi in a cartoon installment.
That’s why it’s so important that, seven years ago, Hamill spoke at Oxford University and stated to a packed house that Luke Skywalker may be gay, or bi, or whatever you want him to be. The moment has gone viral once again thanks to the Twitter post below.
this is how actors should answer questions regarding their character being queer. fictional characters & their relationships are allowed to be interpreted however fans want, emily swallow is a fucking clown pic.twitter.com/Q40og0qcMM
— brigand (@malewife_saber) May 1, 2023
The important moment in gay history began when Hamill opened his visit to public questions. A young woman asks if we’ll ever see a gay romance or important gay character in the Star Wars movie. While LGBT characters exist in the universe via novels, comic books and video games, there doesn’t seem to be any gay love on the big screen – at least as far as my Google search goes.
Hamill confirms that current Star Wars creator J.J. Abrams is open to the possibility of gay characters as long as it fits the overall story. And, the beauty of Skywalker never having a love interest on screen except his sister – ew – means that his sexuality is open to interpretation. Judge him by his character, his morals and not based on who he loves, reiterates Hamill.
Watch the moment in its entirety below.
Do you think Hamill was glazing over the answer? Do you think Skywalker is gay? Comment and let me know!
Sources: Inside the Magic, The Wrap
I’ve always known Luke to be gay, throw in a rainbow lightsaber 🙂