Los Angeles, Sep 12 : Veteran Hollywood actor Mark Hamill, who gained the spotlight for playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars film franchise, says he didn't expect to be so sought-after at this stage of his career.

The 73-year-old actor told The Hollywood Reporter: "I certainly didn't expect to have this sudden burst of life so late in the game. I should be spending time wandering the beaches with a metal detector. I can't explain why, all of a sudden, I have five features this year."

Hamill considers his role in The Fall of the House of Usher, the 2023 horror movie, to be a turning point in his career, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

He said: "There was a point about five years ago where I thought that it's not easy getting older, and it's even harder when you're doing it on camera. So I thought that I've had enough on-camera. I'm going to continue working but in voiceover only. Then Mike Flanagan and his producer, Trevor Macy, contacted me to do The Fall of the House of Usher.

"I was playing the family lawyer to a really evil family ' a soulless, truly evil guy. And I loved it. It was minimalist. It was unlike anything I had ever done, and it sort of rekindled my satisfaction of doing things on camera.

"Then, with The Life of Chuck, I've seen it now three times. My wife has seen it like six times. She says, 'It's my favourite thing you've ever done.'"

Hamill has enjoyed huge success in Hollywood. However, he also acknowledges that he's made some mistakes.

Asked what lesson he wishes he learned earlier in his career, the actor replied: "Don't sweat the smallest stuff.

"The older you get, the less you care ' but I don't mean that you don't care about the work or your values. It's the things that you would obsess about before: 'Why did they write that about me?' People are going to say what they're going to say regardless. So focus on the work and less about the image."

/IANS