Mark Hamill and Tom Hiddleston on the Challenge of Adapting ‘The Life of Chuck’: ‘Even Stephen King’ Called It ‘Unfilmable’

Though Mark Hamill and Tom Hiddleston play grandfather and grandson in “The Life of Chuck,” the two actors don’t share any scenes together. That’s because they appear in separate chapters of Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of the Stephen King novella, which chronicles the life of a seemingly ordinary man (Hiddleston). The co-stars didn’t meet until the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, where it went on to win the coveted Audience Award.

When did you first meet — or at least greet — each other?

Tom Hiddleston: I’ll never forget this. You sent me the sweetest note, so when I arrived in my trailer, it was the first thing I saw. I’ve still got the note.

Mark Hamill: I hadn’t shot yet, but my daughter was hired as a production assistant, so she was there almost every single day. I regret not being there for your dance. That is really a standout moment in motion picture history, and it’s indescribably joyous. But I took some satisfaction in knowing I had days off while my daughter had to work.

Hiddleston: Chelsea was amazing. She was my banana supplier through the dancing days. We danced from Monday to Thursday, all four days, between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. because that’s when we had the overhead sunlight. So it was five and a half hours every day. And there’s a certain point where you just need a banana.

Hamill: I remember seeing you onstage in “Much Ado About Nothing” and telling you afterwards, “I can’t believe what a great dancer you are!” And this was after I had seen “The Life of Chuck”! It was one of those things you wish you hadn’t said.

Can you tell us what the note said?

Hiddleston: I’m paraphrasing, but it was something like, “I’m sorry we don’t actually get to meet face-to-face on this, but I am so excited to be working with you and share the screen with you and play your grandfather. Hope you brought your dancing feet.”

Hamill: It’s an honor to act near him. I loved all the Chucks, even though I didn’t work with Tom or Jacob Tremblay. I worked with Cody Flanagan and Benjamin Pajak, and they were so easy to love that it was idyllic.

Tom, did you meet the other Chucks prior to shooting and exchange notes?

Hiddleston: I met Benjamin the week I was filming the dance scene. He came to set and our extraordinary choreographer, Mandy Moore, told him to watch me. And I didn’t know until I saw the film at TIFF that he was watching so closely. He put in little things I was instinctively doing, little physical mannerisms emerging during the dance. I had no idea he was doing that.

You have amazing scene partners, but was there any part of you that campaigned to play teenage Chuck so you could work with Mark Hamill and Mia Sara?

Hiddleston: [Laughs] At 44, I don’t know if I can. But it’s the honor of my life that you are my grandparents.

Hamill: It’s a great group. I’ve worked with Mike before on “House of Usher,” and that had a large cast and so I didn’t share scenes with everyone. But it’s so empowering when you have a strong ensemble because all boats are lifted when you have good people around you.

Hiddleston: I think for us, the joy comes from being part of a team and playing together in this as an instrument in the orchestra to make the whole thing sing. That’s what this film is — everybody knows the tune, everybody knows the theme and they’re playing their own instrument. And playing their heart out.

This film asks big questions and takes big risks. What was your reaction when you first read it, and how did you know it could be pulled off?

Hamill: Mike mentioned it to me and I ordered the story collection, “If It Bleeds.” It came overnight, so I read it before the screenplay and I thought, “How is he going to do this?” Even Stephen King has told Mike it’s unfilmable, I think.

Since you didn’t know anything going in, were you expecting a gory horror story?

Hamill: Well, yes, I had the preconceived notion. It’s Stephen King and Mike, two masters of the genre. It set me up in a way that worked perfectly for the material because it was so unexpected. Mike thinks outside the box — he did when using me in “House of Usher.” It’s routine in voiceover; you can play anything in voiceover. It’s a character actor’s dream. Because they cast with their ears, not their eyes. But I never got those offers on camera, so I’m so grateful he came into my life — even though I played a horrible person in that.

Hiddleston: It never occurred to me it couldn’t work, and I read the screenplay before the story. And I was invested from the start, wondering, “Who the hell is Chuck?” When I saw the narrative turn in the second act and then the third act, I was so moved by it and it seemed to speak to something I’ve always believed but never expressed as eloquently as this story — the vast range of infinite possibility that’s contained within the soul of every human being. There is no such thing as an ordinary person. Inside our hearts and our minds, we contain every experience, every relationship, every memory, our best and our worst. I was just so moved by it and thought, “This is going to work.” I never doubted it for a second. Then I heard Mark was going to be playing Albee, and I was floored.

You obviously knew Mark’s work. Did you have a favorite role?

Hiddleston: I mean I’d be lying if I didn’t say Luke Skywalker.

Hamill: I made my piece with that a long time ago.

Hiddleston: You must have long processed and accepted the honor, and it’s not small, of being included in the fabric of the imaginations of people.

Hamill: Of course. I remember people telling me, “You must be disturbed that all you’ll be remembered for is Luke.” And I said, “Look, when I started in this business, I didn’t have any expectation of being remembered for anything.”

Hiddleston: And you’re actually — it’s worth restating — you are part of people’s conception of what is good.

Hamill: I thought that when I first read the script. It was almost “Wizard of Oz,” where someone’s bored and their life is dreary, and they’re transported into a fairy tale or a myth. Good is good and evil is evil, and the lesson it teaches children is to selflessly do the right thing for the good of others, not just for self-aggrandizement. What could be better than that?

On the flip side, he plays Loki, a villain that everybody feels sorry for.

Hiddleston: Well, he’s redeemed in the end.

Did you ever exchange notes on roles? You’ve both played vampires. You were also both guest voices on “The Simpsons.”

Hiddleston: I did one night in a play, “The Play That Goes Wrong.”

Hamill: And your name was Tom?

Hiddleston: Well, that was the joke, they couldn’t get the name right. They called me Tim Sticklebrick, Tom Littleton and Tim Heinreich.