Outside of his time fighting with a lightsaber, Mark Hamill has dominated the world of voice acting, having been a part of more animated projects than almost anyone in the film industry. He has played characters from all corners of the genre, being a part of the Marvel animated universe, The Sandman, The Boy and The Heron, and even Gravity Falls.
However, perhaps the one role that has been even more iconic than Luke Skywalker was his time as The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series. He integrated the true essence of the character when he was portraying him, which is perfectly reflected in his performance. Fans adored how he played the Clown Prince of Gotham, and he has gone down in history as one of the best animated versions.
Interestingly enough, Hamill was not the first choice for the role. It was after another actor’s shortcomings that he got an audition; for a role that he never thought he could get.
Batman: The Animated Series Was Not Joking Around
The Joker is one character that lays the foundation of a Batman project. One cannot exist without the other. As though they are two sides of the same coin, if he is portrayed accurately, the project will receive a lot of acclaim from their viewers. If, however, he is not well-received by the viewers, the success of the project becomes difficult, regardless of how good the rest of it is.
Before Mark Hamill, the role of the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series was going to go to Tim Curry. Although he is an extremely respected and talented actor, he was let go from this role. While the actor believes the reason to be his bronchitis, the truth seems to be far from it. During an interview with Back Issue! magazine, via Issuu, Bruce Timm, the co-creator of the series, revealed why they decided against the actor.
“I think what Tim was doing was very, very interesting. It didn’t seem terribly organic to us. A lot of his line readings were just… they felt almost non-sequitur. They were just really weird and quirky but without really any deep meaning behind them.” Bruce Timm stated.
“But it didn’t seem—and it sounds weird to say this about the Joker—but it didn’t sound natural. It didn’t sound organic. Specifically, his laugh. It never really sounded he like he was genuinely amused by anything. It just sounded like this weird, odd laugh. So that was the main thing.”
It would seem that the main conflict came from his voice acting itself. The animator revealed that the voice that Curry was going for felt off in several ways. Rather than feeling threatening and having weight behind it, it felt comical to many who were creating the series. The laugh, which is iconic to the character, also seemed to not fit the vision they were going for.
Mark Hamill Did Not Think Much Into His Audition
After Tim Curry’s departure, auditions began again for the role of The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series. Mark Hamill told The Hollywood Reporter that when he went into his audition for the role, he did not have many expectations. Having gained a lot of attention for his role in the Star Wars franchise, he believed that only one iconic role was written in his career. He was very wrong.
“I figured there was no way they’d hire Luke Skywalker as the Joker. So, in a way it was very freeing. I had great confidence at the audition because I thought there was no way I could get it. I thought, ‘I’m going to give them the best damn Joker they’ve ever heard and they’re really going to regret not being able to cast me.'”
It would seem that the surety that he had about not getting the role ended up boosting his confidence immensely. He wanted to make them regret not casting him long before the audition even began. So, Hamill gave his Joker voice his all. It had charisma and menace behind it. On top of this, his delivery of the laugh became the foundation for many live-action versions of the character.
Mark Hamill has gone on to voice the character several times in many projects over the years.
Batman: The Animated Series is available for streaming on Max.
