Hamill’s complicated feelings regarding the fate of the character with which he’s most associated have hit the headlines since the release of The Last Jedi in December 2017. ‘The thing is, Luke changed so much between the first trilogy and the last trilogy. I got myself into trouble. I made a vow – I said that I’m not going to talk about the movies anymore, because I think it’s important for the audience to see them. My problem was, I wasn’t dealing with social media back then, where you say something and it goes around the world in 24 hours! If I were to answer your questions on paper, I’d think: oh, that sounds a little strong, or, I shouldn’t say this. But I have a tendency just to talk and talk and talk, and you can cherrypick. You know, I’ll be reading something, and say, “What moron said this?”, and then realise, “Oh, it’s me.” They can take selective comments you’ve made out of context and use it to support their argument: “See, Mark hated Star Wars!” “Did I?”

He’s reasonable and even-handed on the subject, emphasising that any differences of opinion are down to the profound commitment he feels to the saga and its many devotees. As a fan himself, he gets it. ‘I was once describing Star Wars fans, and I said, they’re passionate, they’re opinionated, and they feel a sense of ownership, because they’ve invested so much time in these characters and these stories, and I realised I was describing myself. It can get you into trouble, because I don’t control the storylines. I’m sort of like a musician. I read the music, and I try to play it to the best of my ability. That doesn’t necessarily mean I like the tune, but that’s not my job.’

Disney CEO Bob Iger told The Hollywood Reporter last year that the schedule for Star Wars releases had been too densely packed, a view Hamill shares. ‘In our day, it was three years apart. Now they’re two years apart, with an independent movie (Rogue One, Solo) in between. I say to the executives at Disney, “Really? Han Solo five months after our movie? Give it a rest!” They say, well, we have to keep the schedule clear for Mary Poppins.’ He feigns outrage. ‘But I can be mouthy, because you know, what are they gonna do, fire me?’

Some decisions still rankle, though. He remains shocked by Han Solo’s fate: slain by his own son and Luke’s nephew, the powerful Dark Side warrior Kylo Ren (formerly known as Ben Solo) in the sequel trilogy’s opening instalment, The Force Awakens. ‘I just thought, Luke’s never going to see his best friend again. You look at it in a self-centred way. I said that it was a big mistake that those three people would never reunite in any way. I guess I was wrong, because nobody seems to care! I have to stipulate that I care, but it didn’t really seem to affect the larger audience. Luke, Han and Leia will never be together again, and I’ll probably never get to work with Harrison again. Then the second thing was that they killed me off. I thought: oh, okay, you should push my death off to the last one. That’s what I was hoping when I came back: no cameos and a run-of-the-trilogy contract. Did I get any of those things? Because as far as I’m concerned, the end of VII is really the beginning of VIII. I got one movie! They totally hornswoggled (tricked) me.’

He’s made his peace with any unfulfilled expectations. ‘Listen, I never expected to come back. We had a beginning, a middle, and an end. That’s what I said: why mess with it? It’s not something that worries me, because it’s all about the new generation, as it should be.’