No offense to you as a former classmate, but I always thought he was a very strange casting choice.
No proof to base it on, but I figure either nepotism, the gay cartel or some other dynamic had to have been at play to explain why such a talentless goofball would’ be picked for that role.
Neither #1 nor #2. Coming out of acting school, Mark came under the wing of Arthur Hill ("Owen Marshall MD"), who used his connections to get Mark TV roles. When the parts for Star Wars were being filled, Lucas thought the way Kubrick did for 2001, that he wanted mostly actors with experience but not big names, ending up with Ford--who like Hamill had TV experience in various shows--and Fisher. Getting Gielgud and Cushing were strokes of genius, creating a balance between the old and the young in acting, making the younger trio look more like a galactic version of the three musketeers.