STAR WARS' star Mark Hamill was thrilled by his son NATHAN's cameo appearance in EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE.

Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the original GEORGE LUCAS sci-fi trilogy, was surprised that his 25-year-old son wanted to appear in the 1999 blockbuster.

Hamill says, "It wasn't about the fact that he was in it or there he was or how big the part was. He asked me, 'Do you think I could do that?'

"It surprised me because Nathan is an artist and he's a guitarist and he works for Matt Groening at BONGO COMICS, which I'm very proud of.

"But he has no interest in being an actor. So it surprised me that he wanted to be in the film. I've seen photos of him in costume and the costume was amazing."

Hamill has still be unable to spot Nathan in the film, and says, "We looked at him, but I didn't see him.

"Probably the fans who freeze-frame and see the films 600 times can tell you where he is. So it wasn't a matter of passing the torch, it was just a lark."

04/08/2004 21:27