The Time Mark Hamill Was Mistaken For Steven Spielberg On The Star Wars Set

Mark Hamill in Star Wars; The Rise of Skywalker

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Steven Spielberg is one of the most accomplished film directors working today. Mark Hamill played on of the most iconic characters in film history over the course of six movies. They're both huge stars in their own right, but do they really look alike? That's apparently what one security guard thought at the studio where John Williams was conducting the recording of the score for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

John Williams has written and conducted the scores for all nine Star Wars films in the Skywalker Saga, which made the work he did for The Rise of Skywalker, which ended the story, as monumental as anything else that happened during the production of the film. As part of the Blu-ray special features for the new movie, we get to see some of Williams' final day conducting the score. The day was an event and number of those connected to both Star Wars and John Williams' career were in attendance to watch it all happen. J.J. Abrams, Mark Hamill and Steven Spielberg, among others, were all there.

And apparently one of the VIP guests got mistaken for another. During a break, John Williams goes over to greet his friend Mark Hamill, and the actor relates, with Steven Spielberg hearing the story as well, that he was just mistaken for the director, saying...

I was just mistaken for Steven Spielberg at the gate. Seriously. He said ‘Do you have an ID?’And I said, ‘I left it at home.’ I said ‘Any chance you recognize me?’And he said ‘Oh, you’re Steven Spielberg.’ I wish I’d said yes. I missed that opportunity. I came this close.

I suppose when you think about it, the face of Mark Hamill and Steven Spielberg aren't necessarily faces everybody would recognize. Mark Hamill's older Luke Skywalker was only significantly seen in a single movie, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and as a director, Steven Spielberg is usually behind a camera, and not nearly as often in front of it. Serious movie fans would certainly recognize them, and be able to tell them apart, but maybe the general public would have a tougher time.

Here's how both Mark Hamill and Steven Spielberg looked on the day in question. What do you think?

Mark Hamill and Steven Spielberg side by side

Most of us would probably get a kick out of being mistaken for Steven Spielberg, and Mark Hamill is no different. Spielberg himself loves the story too, the image above is of his reaction while hearing the story.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now available in Digital and will be released on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K on March 31.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.