Mark Hamill admits that he would have turned down Stephen King’s The Long Walk if it weren’t for its director. Premiering on September 12 and directed by The Hunger Games‘ Francis Lawrence, The Long Walk follows an annual cash prize event in a totalitarian America where a group of teenage boys are forced to walk without rest, or risk being sH๏τ.
The Stephen King adaptation boasts a powerful cast, including Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Charlie Plummer, Joshua Odjick, and Jordan Gonzalez in various roles. Star Wars legend Mark Hamill also stars in The Long Walk as The Major, who oversees the тιтular event. The Long Walk has received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences, holding a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score.
However, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hamill admitted he was hesitant to take on The Long Walk, stating: “Gun violence is just one of the worst aspects of American life […] So yeah, I hate guns.” However, a talk with director Lawrence changed his mind, as Hamill said: “I realized this is the exact guy who should do this.”
According to Hamill, even though the audience will be shocked by The Long Walk‘s first graphic death, “It’s not about brains exploding… It’s about the relationships of these guys. The real heart and soul of the picture are their experiences under these incredible circumstances.“ In another Entertainment Weekly interview, Lawrence confirmed this sentiment. Check out what the director said below:
It’s a Stephen King story. It’s a very visceral, intense story. We made a decision very, very early on that this was not something that we were gonna shy away from. The way that I handled the first death, I wanted it to actually be quite shocking. It tees up the promise of the intensity of the rest of the movie…but as you move through the various losses, you want each of them to feel very different. You don’t want them all to just be shock and horror. You want the emotional value of each of them to be as different as possible so you get the full experience.
What This Means For The Long Walk
Hamill’s change of heart and commitment to The Long Walk adds unexpected weight to a film that is already emotional and philosophical. As Hamill is personally opposed to gun violence, by portraying The Major, who administers it with bureaucratic detachment, the added subtext creates tension and elevates the role from stock villain to something even more unsettling and memorable.
The fact that The Long Walk is more focused on its performances — including Hamill’s gravitas and rising stars like Hoffman and Jonsson — as opposed to action, ensures that the film is not just a simple survival horror. Instead, The Long Walk drives home King’s original messages in a way that appealed to audiences, ultimately changing Hamill’s mind.
Our Take On Mark Hamill’s The Major
Hamill has excelled in a variety of roles, portraying things like the deranged voice of The Joker in animated projects and, of course, Luke Skywalker in Star Wars. However, The Major may be Hamill’s most emotionally conflicted role yet, and it’s not because the character is nuanced, but because Hamill himself carries that inner conflict that drives his fantastic performance.
What makes Hamill’s casting so compelling is not just his reputation, but how aware the actor is of the real-world issues that his character and King’s work represent. As a result, Hamill’s performance adds another level of authority to The Major’s role in The Long Walk, serving as a subtle critique of the systems that he embodies.
