NBCMark Hamill was a little worried about signing on to Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas.
"I was nervous involving myself in this," the Star Wars legend tells me. "How can they ever top the movie? But with the animation and the songs from the Broadway show, it's like its own animal now."
This new animated adaptation (premiering tonight at 8 p.m. on NBC) stars Jim Parsons as Buddy, the role originally played by Will Ferrell in the 2003 movie. Ed Asner returns as Santa with The Big Bang Theory actress Kate Micucci as Jovie. Rounding out the voice cast are Jay Leno, Matt Lauer, Gilbert Gottfried, Fred Armisen and Steve Higgins.
Hamill plays Walter Hobbs.
"The most important person in this is Jim Parsons, of course," said Hamill, whose work also involved some singing. "He does such a great job. Nobody does that wide-eyed innocence like Jim. It was just a brilliant choice."
Hamill admits he didn't realize how big the Elf fan base was until he started telling people about the project. "I knew that it was a very, very, very popular film, but I didn't realize it had achieved such iconic status," he said.
It was also recently announced that Hamill will guest star on the CW's Flash as the Trickster, a part he played on CBS' Flash in the '90s.
"The last thing I thought I would hear is that they wanted me to play the Trickster," he said. "I was like, 'Maybe it includes time travel?'"
Whatever the case may be, Hamill isn't allowed to reveal much.
"I will say, as the British like to say, I was gobsmacked," he said. "I was in shock that was the part they wanted me to do."
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