“Sometimes your anxiety can get the best of you”

Mark Hamill remembers his audition for Joker Batman: The Animated Series and confesses that he thought he wouldn't get his now iconic DC role. Several actors have played the Joker in live-action, including BatmanIt's Jack Nicholson, The Dark KnightHeath Ledger, and ClownIt's Joaquin Phoenix. However, the Joker is now synonymous with Mark Hamill when the Clown Prince of Crime appears in animated form.

In an episode of Policy podcast (via heart), Mark Hamill explains the process behind his Batman: The Animated Series hearing. Hamill reveals that he believed in his Star Wars fame would be an obstacle, as Luke Skywalker is a very different character from the Joker. According to Hamill, this belief led him to show up to the audition without high expectations, which in turn allowed him to have fun acting. Of course, the rest is history. Read Hamill's full comments below:

So I said… I'd love to audition, but I wanted to play a

villain that's never been done before, ClayFace, Two Face, whatever.

But they said, you have an audition for the Joker.

I said, oh, it's a little too loud. Jack

Nicholson was great and Cesar Romero… Anyway, just before they cast Michael Keaton as Batman, and all

The Dan boys lost their minds. Oh my God, he's Mr. Mom.

He can't be Batman, blah, blah, without seeing him

play the role. Never, so what am I saying in this atmosphere,

I said, if you think they lost their minds over Mister Mom playing Batman, how are they going to feel?

Luke Skywalker playing the Joker. There's no way they can

throw me. So normally you go in and if you

I really want the role, sometimes your anxiety can get

the best of you. They may feel a lack that

makes them uncomfortable. You're out of the game because you're nervous or something. Here, I thought, well, since there's no way

I can… I'll make them regret not being able to hire me, and

I just let it go and had a lot of fun

in my life.

Source: heart