Great news for this weeks birthday boy, as it appears Mark Hamill will be the recipient of this years Gregory Peck Award for Cinematic Excellence at the San Diego Film Festival, and not only that but the festival will close out with another GFFA connection, Rian Johnson’s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery”. The award will recognise Mark’s decades long career, one that has seen success on screens both large and small, on the stage and in the vocal arena.
Mark Hamill will receive the Gregory Peck Award for Cinematic Excellence at the San Diego Intl. Film Festival, which runs Oct. 15-19. The festival also announced that Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin (“CODA”) will be honored with the Visionary Impact Award, while John Magaro (“September 5,” “The Mastermind”) is set for the Virtuoso Award and Joe Manganiello (the “Magic Mike” franchise, “Nonnas”) will be recognized with the Spotlight Award at the Night of Stars Tribute. Rian Johnson’s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” is set to close the festival.
Hamill — who rocketed to stardom as Luke Skywalker in 1977’s “Star Wars,” and repised the role in its sequels, Season 2 of “The Mandalorian” and “The Book of Boba Fett” — can be currently seen onscreen in Lionsgate’s Stephen King adaptation “The Long Walk,” from director Francis Lawrence. He starred with Tom Hiddleston in Neon’s “The Life of Chuck,” which won the Audience Award at the 2024 Toronto Intl. Film Festival. A beloved and prolific voice actor, Hamill’s credits include Dreamwork’s three-time Oscar-nominated “The Wild Robot,” the Oscar-winning “The Boy and the Heron,” a long-standing role as the Joker, starting with “Batman: The Animated Series,” and the video game “Arkham City,” for which he received a BAFTA Award. Upcoming projects include Paramount’s “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.”
