• The White House

Washington, May 3 (EFE).-

American actor Mark Hamill, famous for playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise, surprised reporters at a White House on Friday following a meeting with President Joe Biden, whom he dubbed “Joe-B-Wan Kenobi.”

Mark Hamill, 72, turned up in the White House press room after meeting with Biden in the Oval Office.

“How many of you had ‘Mark Hamill will lead the press briefing’ on your bingo card – hands?” began the actor, who was wearing sunglasses. “Yeah, me neither. I just got to meet the president and he gave me these aviator glasses.”

In “Star Wars: A New Hope” (1977), Hamill played boy Luke, who learned mind tricks from Obi-Wan Kenobi, an elderly Jedi master.

When asked by reporters about his meeting with Biden, Hamill said: “I called him ‘Mr President’. He said, ‘You can call me Joe.’ I said, ‘Can I call you Joe-B-Wan Kenobi?’ He liked that.”

The actor said he was “honoured” to meet “the most legislatively successful president in my lifetime,” and listed some of Biden’s accomplishments, before adding that “it just shows you that just one person can be so influential and so positive in our lives.”

This is not the first time that Hamill, a staunch critic of former Republican president Donald Trump, has visited the White House: he did so during the presidencies of two other Democrats, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.

However, he had never been into the Oval Office until now, he said.

It was unknown why Hamill was in the Oval Office, or what the pair talked about. Some speculated Biden may need some star power to boost his presidential campaign.

On Saturday, fans mark Star Wars Day, celebrated every May 4 with the phrase: “May the 4th Be With You.” EFE bpm/tw

Oscar Alberto Quintana, Americano’s Publisher, during a tour sponsored by the National Association of Hispanic Publishers (NAHP.ORG) at the James Brady Press Briefing room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 1st, 2024.