Atlanta actor mistaken for Mark Hamill in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special’
Luke, that is just your doppelgänger.
Atlanta actor Troy Beecham received a tiny non-speaking role in the special “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” that came out on Black Friday. At 29 minutes and 56 seconds, Beecham is shown for a couple of seconds right after a kidnapped Kevin Bacon tries to flee from his well-meaning abductors.
On social media, some observers thought this was a cameo by Mark Hamill, best known as Luke Skywalker in the “Star Wars” films. The speculation became so prevalent, Hamill’s son Nathan on Twitter said it was not his father.
Beecham’s friend Cynn Smith, who was also a background actor in the special, said Beecham told him he had sometimes been mistaken for Hamill in the past. “I always said that I didn’t really see it,” Smith said. “So it was like a payoff for him when the world started saying it.”
Smith said it would have been ironic for Hamill to make a cameo given that the 1978 “Star Wars Holiday Special” he was in that aired on CBS was so negatively received, it never was replayed or released in any official form. Only bootleg copies exist.
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Beecham, 75, said he began doing background work a decade ago and has occasionally gotten more substantial roles. He is retired from AT&T and installing fiber optics.
“I’m overwhelmed by the response, mostly on Twitter,” he said.
Friends, he said, also noticed him when he was in the background behind Sylvester Stallone in the recent film “Samaritan.”
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
