8. Robert Englund Told Mark Hamill About The Star Wars Audition
Robert Englund is the actor most famous for portraying nightmarish murderer Freddy Krueger in the A Nightmare In Elm Street films. A little known fact concerning Englund, however, is that he was once Mark Hamill's roommate for a while in the '70s - and it's all thanks to Englund that Hamill ended up playing Luke Skywalker in the iconic saga. Seriously, after Englund failed to get a part as a surfer in Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola directed him to George Lucas to audition for the part of Han Solo. He didn't get that, either, of course, but - upon returning home - he told Mark Hamill something that would change his life forever. In Englund's own words:
"I went home and told a little kid that was sleeping on my couch, after a six-pack of Heineken, all about , and his name was Mark Hamill. I said, Hey, Lucas is doing this space movie. Maybe youre right for it."
Hamill got in touch with his agent, and went off to see George Lucas the very next day.