The force is strong with this one: Star Wars actor Mark Hamill goes viral... for tweeting his own name
The tweet from the actor who played Luke Skywalker receives thousands of likes and re-tweets - echoing former minister Ed Balls' infamous 2011 post.
Monday 6 September 2021 11:55, UK
An iconic role in one of the most loved movie series of all time had long secured him a lifetime of adulation from millions.
And the force appears to be so strong in Star Wars actor Mark Hamill that he now needs only to tweet his own name to trigger an avalanche of approval from fans.
One Twitter user tweeted the actor on Sunday to say: "You could just tweet 'Mark Hamill' and you'd get thousands of likes."
And the man who famously played legendary Jedi Master Luke Skywalker responded by quoting the tweet, and simply adding 'Mark Hamill' - quickly attracting more than 487,000 likes and 28,000 retweets.
The tweet also prompted reaction from other actors, with Star Trek star George Takei quote-tweeting Hamill's post and adding: "Mark Hamill. And now we wait."
Takei's tweet has received more than 32,000 likes and 1,100 retweets.
Filmmaker Ken Olin also got in on the fun and said: "Will that work for anyone? Here goes: Mark Hamill."
Olin's tweet received over 23,000 likes.
Hamill is not the first to tweet his own name, with the practice achieving notoriety on 28 April 2011 when former Labour MP Ed Balls did so, albeit in his case accidentally.
After a mistake widely assumed to have happened when the then shadow chancellor attempted to search for Twitter posts containing his name, the tweet was shared by thousands and has never been deleted.
This incident is now celebrated on "Ed Balls Day" every year, when thousands share the original message again.
In 2015, Mr Balls submitted a framed and signed printout of the tweet during and Labour party auction and in 2016 he baked a cake featuring the tweet to celebrate Ed Balls Day.