Mark Hamill has often said that he had no idea that the spacey 1977 film called Star Wars that he was starring in would be so successful. However, Carl Weathers once offered a slightly different take.
In a missed gem of an interview from several years ago, Carl Weathers told a story about Hamill that’s almost as good as Hamill’s own storytelling. In it, he makes it clear that Hamill practically predicted that Star Wars would become a box office hit.
The Rocky star was a guest on Sirius XM Radio’s The Dean Obeidallah Show back in 2017, when and began the story by telling Obeidallah that shortly after Rocky was released, Weathers was working on a show called the Streets of San Francisco. Looking at his television credits, Weathers appeared in one episode of the series, titled “Innocent No More,” that aired in 1977 and, indeed, Mark Hamill was also in the episode. Weathers actually plays a cop who arrests the character played by Hamill.
Weathers said that one day before shooting, he was approached by a young actor who was also appearing on the show, and who recognized him from Rocky. Weathers didn’t initially say who it was — it wasn’t until the end of his brief story when he revealed it was Mark Hamill, to the radio host’s joyful surprise. Of course, this anecdote took place a few months before the original Star Wars was released.
Weathers humorously recounted that Hamill came up to him and began complimenting him about his Apollo Creed role and on the success of the film. After the compliments wore out, Weathers claimed that Hamill decided to add one last thing, telling him, “I just made a little movie, finished it this year, and I think it’s gonna be as big as Rocky.”
Weathers thought that Hamill was being a bit overconfident, but admits that he himself told people that Rocky would be as big as Jaws. So, it was a dream big mentality that the two shared.
Now, for Star Wars fans, it seems unlikely that Hamill would say that, but considering that a man can dream — plus Hamill’s playful nature — he likely enjoyed telling Weathers that, though he may not have actually believed it. Maybe he was just wishing it and trying to will it into existence.
Nonetheless, Star Wars was indeed bigger than Rocky and both films spawned major movie franchises. Weathers even became part of the Star Wars universe with his role in The Mandalorian, which was after his interview with Obeidallah. However, Hamill hasn’t found his way into the Rocky world… yet.