Mark Hamill Visits the White House and Gives President Joe Biden a Funny Star Wars-Themed Nickname

Mark Hamill dubbed President Joe Biden “Joe-bi-Wan Kenobi” during a visit to the White House ahead of May 4, a.k.a. Star Wars Day

As May the 4th approaches, Mark Hamill is making a significant pit stop in Washington, D.C.

The actor, 72, appeared at the White House on Friday, May 3, ahead of Star Wars Day to participate in a press briefing alongside White House Press Secretary Karine-Jean Pierre.

Hamill spoke about his conversation with President Joe Biden and even coined a new nickname for Biden, 81, in video of the conference shared by the White House Press Secretary’s office on X.

“How many of you had ‘Mark Hamill leads the press briefing on your bingo card,’ hands? Yeah, me either,” Hamill said as he took the podium. “And look, I just got to meet the president and he gave me these aviator glasses. I love the merch.”
When asked by a reporter if he and Biden spoke about Star Wars, Hamill responded, “Well, you know, I called him Mr. President, and he said, ‘You can call me Joe.’ I said, ‘Can I call you Joe-bi-Wan Kenobi?’ “

“He liked that,” he added of Biden’s reaction to the nickname, a reference to the Star Wars character Obi-Wan Kenobi.
“First of all, I only expected to be in there for like five minutes,” Hamill said elsewhere during his appearance. “He showed us all these photographs. It was really amazing to me. I was invited to the Carter White House and I came, and then I came to the Obama White House. But I was never invited to the Oval Office, so this was extra special.”

Hamill famously portrayed Star Wars lead Luke Skywalker in the original three movies, released between 1977 and 1983. In the 2010s, Hamill returned to the role for supporting performances in the sequel trilogy, led by Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Adam Driver.

His last credited appearance as Luke came in a 2022 episode of the Disney+ series The Book of Boba Fett; he told CBS Sunday Morning in a June 2023 interview that he believes future Star Wars project do not need his character moving forward.
“I just don’t see any reason to,” he said of reprising the role again at that time. “Let me put it that way: I mean, they have so many stories to tell, they don’t need Luke anymore. I had my time, and that’s good. But that’s enough.”