Mark Hamill Hasn’t Watched First Star Wars Since It Came Out 50 Years Ago

Mark Hamill isn’t one for a Star Wars rewatch.

The Life of Chuck actor, 73, just made the surprising confession that he hasn’t seen Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, his first film in the epic franchise, since its 1977 premiere.

“I haven’t seen it since it came out,” Hamill said Friday, June 6, on the 3rd Hour of Today. “My sons watch it — especially Nathan is a huge aficionado. I saw it when it came out and I just don’t revisit it.”

“I’m not one of those people that goes, ‘Hey, let’s watch one of my movies!’ ” joked the actor, who famously played Jedi protagonist Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy and later returned for the sequel films and multiple TV series.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

While many fans may be tempted to label Star Wars as a sci-fi franchise, according to Hamill, at its heart, it’s something completely different.

“One of the things that struck me when I first read [the screenplay] was, ‘This isn’t science fiction — it’s a fairytale,’ ” he said on Today. “There’s a princess, there’s a wizard, there’s a space pirate. If you did a gender switch with Wizard of Oz and made Dorothy Luke, it’s very similar to that, because they both get swept away to these grand adventures.

Hamill also recalled “complain[ing]” to Star Wars creator George Lucas during the making of 1983’s Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original trilogy that Hamill famously led alongside Harrison Ford as Han Solo and the late Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia.

“I said, ‘You know, Luke has lost his hand, he’s got the black glove — shouldn’t it be about Luke struggling with turning to the dark side?’ And George said, ‘Mark, it’s for children,’ ” Hamill quipped. “And that’s why he would never consider killing any of the main characters [in the original trilogy]. In the new ones, they pop us off one at a time.”

The PEOPLE App is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more!

In a recent interview with PEOPLE in support of his new movie The Life of Chuck, Hamill didn’t say he’d never return as Luke again despite his character’s death in 2019’s Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. Still, “I sort of think I had my time,” he says.

“I’m really grateful to have been a part of it, but I really think the focus should be on the future and the new projects and the new people,” he adds.

Of the upcoming Starfighter film, set in the Star Wars universe, Hamill says he doesn’t know much about it and isn’t involved, but he’s excited to see the “great” Ryan Gosling lead.

“I like his humor too,” Hamill adds, shouting out a specific 2024 Saturday Night Live performance from Gosling, 44: “He’s also great as Beavis.”

The Life of Chuck is in theaters now.