Francis Lawrence, the director of several Hunger Games movies and the upcoming dystopian horror The Long Walk, reveals that his performance in the Star Wars sequel trilogy resulted in Mark Hamill being cast as the main villain. Based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, The Long Walk follows the ᴅᴇᴀᴅly compeтιтion where teenage boys must walk as long as they possibly can.

The compeтιтion is dependent on the military unit present to mercilessly enforce it, as soldiers shoot any participants who fall below the speed of three miles per hour. Overseeing the whole thing is the villain known as The Major, to be played by the legendary Hamill in the first completed movie adaptation of the first novel Stephen King ever wrote.

While Hamill is an attractive casting choice under any circumstances for publicity reasons, in an interview with ScreenRant, Francis Lawrence explained that Hamill’s performance as the older and disillusioned Luke Skywalker made him think he would be excellent as The Major. Lawrence said that Hamill’s “weariness” and “gravitas” in the sequel trilogy were what he was looking for.

Check out Lawrence’s full comments about casting Hamill below:

ScreenRant: Mark Hamill absolutely disappears into his role as The Major. Even hearing him, he brings gravitas to the role, and he’s incredible in the film. What made him the perfect choice for The Major?

Francis Lawrence: I was putting a lot of thought into the role of, and I was trying to stay away from the archetype that one might think of… Look, he’s a great actor and a great military consultant, but I was trying to stay away from the Dale Dyes of the world – like in Platoon, and you’ve seen him in Spielberg movies and all that stuff.

I was trying to come up with somebody different, and then I thought of Mark, I think because of his work in the more recent Star Wars movies. There was a sort of weariness to him that I really liked for The Major, and he had a gravitas that I really liked. I also knew that he had done a ton of amazing voice work, so he had this real command over the kind of characters that he could play and the way he could sound.

We had a Zoom, and it was great because I told him these things. He totally got it, but he had also moved around as a kid on military bases, so he was like, “I know this guy!” He had the voice, and he had the weariness, which we gave an arc to. He actually sounds a little stronger at the beginning and a little weaker at the end and a little wearier. But he was great.

What Mark Hamill’s Casting Means For The Long Walk

Lawrence also spoke about stripping down The Long Walk for budgetary reasons, and the movie certainly features fewer mᴀssively famous (and expensive) A-listers. Hamill looms large as easily the most famous person in The Long Walk, and definitely has gravitas because of his status in movie history, but his casting will also have a huge impact because of his performance, in and of itself.

Hamill has also proven himself as a skilled villainous actor, having carved out a niche for himself as a voice actor, famous for portraying The Joker. But what Lawrence refers to specifically is Hamill’s ability to portray a world-weary villain, which will play spectacularly into the movie’s core themes as The Major enforces this violence in a dystopian society.

Our Take On The Director’s Comments On Mark Hamill As The Major

Lawrence’s connecting The Major to Luke Skywalker makes me even more interested to see Hamill’s full performance in The Long Walk. Luke does some damage by not helping the new heroes right away, but he is not such a horrific villain. Lawrence seems to be creating a character whose cynicism has turned into something incredibly violent, showcasing one possibility for a person in a civilization that has collapsed.

The Long Walk‘s trailers are enough to show that Hamill is terrifying in this role. The movie’s cast is largely made up of younger, up-and-coming stars, and it will be fascinating to see how Hamill interacts with them. Most importantly, Lawrence cast Hamill because he wanted The Major to be both powerful and nuanced, setting this up to be a very satisfying adaptation.