Mark Hamill is now synonymous with the Joker thanks to Batman: The Animated Series, but his DC casting was once unthinkable. Mark Hamill joined Batman: The Animated Series‘ cast after Tim Curry dropped out of the Joker role due to health reasons. Since then, Hamill has voiced several versions of the Clown Prince of Crime, including the animated adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke and the Arkham video games.

In an episode of Bullseye with Jesse Thorn, Mark Hamill revealed that “nobody believed” he was the one voicing the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series. Hamill had been seeking different roles to Luke Skywalker after his Star Wars success, and the Joker was the character that “turned [his] career around.” According to Hamill, even fellow actors thought his voice was artificially altered to achieve the Joker’s tone. Read Hamill’s full comments below:

“It was only when I auditioned and got the Joker in [Batman: The Animated Series] that really turned my career around, because nobody believed it was me. ‘That Mark Hamill?!’ I’d have even actor friends saying, ‘Oh, come on. They treat your voice some way, right?'”

“I had done voice over, but the Joker specifically is what really opened up the floodgates. And the thing that’s so great about voice over is they don’t care about what you look like. They cast with their ears, not their eyes.”

What Mark Hamill’s Joker Comments Mean

Mark Hamill Is One Of The Best Joker Actors Ever, Despite Never Playing The Villain On-Screen

Mark Hamill had only played heroic roles in live-action movies and shows before the acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series. Hamill began his acting career in soap operas and sitcoms like General Hospital, The Texas Wheelers, and The Bill Cosby Show. Naturally, Hamill’s breakout performance as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars not only launched him to stardom, but also led Hollywood to type-cast him as a naive hero.

As Hamill explains in the interview, he focused on Broadway productions such as The Elephant Man and Amadeus, but he still had an interest in very different roles in film and television. At the time, a cackling, ultra-violent cartoon villain was almost the total opposite of every previous role in Mark Hamill’s career. Besides, Hamill’s impressive performance made his voice completely unrecognizable.

Our Take On Mark Hamill’s Joker Comments

The Joker Allowed Mark Hamill To Show Off His Full Potential

Mark Hamill’s Joker performance opened the door for a wide variety of roles that allowed him to display his full acting skills. Since Batman: The Animated Series, Hamill has layed a long list of animated characters, from Marvel’s Hobgoblin and Gargoyle to Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s Ozai and Skips from Regular Show. Nowadays, Mark Hamill is a seasoned voice actor with dozens of credits to his name.

Hamill has also played similar characters in live-action, including DC’s Trickster in 1990’s The Flash — a role he later reprised in the Arrowverse. While Mark Hamill has never actually played the Joker in live-action, he voiced a Joker cameo in Birds of Prey, and he’s the go-to voice actor for the villain’s video game appearances. To this day, Mark Hamill is still one of the most iconic Joker actors thanks to Batman: The Animated Series.