Mark Hamill
Hamill played the role of Luke Skywalker in the original three Star Wars movies. In 2015, Hamill returned to the series in The Force Awakens, in which he has no lines, but he earned the heck out of his $1,000,000 salary with the most intense five-second facial expression.
Outside of the Star Wars reboots — Hamill is set to return to the role in 2017’s The Last Jedi — you are more likely to hear Hamill rather than see him. Hamill has been a prolific voice actor since the early 1970s. Hamill’s work with Batman the animated series has led some to consider him to be the best to ever play the role of the Joker.
Carrie Fisher
Fisher’s performance as Princess Leia has had people putting buns on the side of their heads for the past 40 years.
When Fisher returned to the role of Leia in The Force Awakens, the actress managed to portray both a sense of toughness and a mother’s love. Hopefully, we’ll get to see more of her great work in her final film, The Last Jedi, set to come out in December 2017.
Fisher died of cardiac arrest at the end of 2016, passing away the day before her mother, Debbie Reynolds. Fisher had released a book, was planning a follow-up to her one-woman play, “Wishful Drinking,” and was the subject of a documentary all within her final year of life.
Harrison Ford
Ford, of course, played the swaggering smuggler-turned good guy, Han Solo. Just in case you haven’t seen The Force Awakens, we won’t spoil the fun for you — let’s just say he delivers a moving performance
Throughout his career, Ford’s Films have brought in more than $6 billion, making him “the highest grossing U.S. domestic box-office star.”
Not only has Ford been busy reprising his role in the Star Wars series, he’s also set to return to another one of his iconic roles in another reboot, this time as Rick Deckard in the forthcoming Blade Runner 2049.
James Earl Jones
Jones provided the intimidating voice to Darth Vader.
Now 86, the actor has been choosy about his roles in his old age, but he has continued to find work on film, TV, behind a microphone, and on stage. Last year, Jones decided to speak out about his relationship with type 2 diabetes, a disease he has dealt with for more than 20 years.
Billy Dee Williams
Lando Calrissian — sure he betrayed his friends, but he did help to rescue them in the end. Good guy, villain, opportunist? Yeah, Williams made us consider all of those possibilities in his performances in Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Over the last handful of years, several of Williams credits have come as voice roles in various Lego franchise films, including reprising his roles as Calrissian and as Harvey Dent, a role he originally played in the 1989 version of Batman.
Rest in peace, Carrie Fisher. We look forward to seeing your face one last time this December with the release of Star Wars 8: The Last Jedi.
