Mark Hamill Tells MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan It Was Surreal Being Invited by Zelenskyy to be the Ambassador for Ukraine’s ‘Army of Drones’

When you’re fighting the Evil Empire, you want Luke Skywalker on your side. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy evidently came to that same conclusion, inviting Mark Hamill to serve as the ambassador for their “army of drones” program to oppose the Russian invasion. On Sunday, the Star Wars actor told MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan how he got involved in the fundraising effort.

Zelenskyy had been “doubling down on his PR savvy” lately, said Hasan to introduce the segment, and “leveraging the soft power of his now huge global celebrity status,” including making some “newfound friends” to help the Ukrainian cause.

One of these new friends was “Jedi Master and veteran freedom fighter Mark Hamill,” Hasan continued, peppering his comments with the sort of deep-dive Star Wars references known to dedicated fans.

Hamill had been named an ambassador for United24, the official fundraising arm of the Ukraine government earlier this year, said Hasan, and was now helping support the “army of drones…because unfortunately, sometimes when you’re fighting a reactionary totalitarian far-right figurehead like Palpatine, I mean Putin, you need more than just the Force to be with you.”

“Army of Drones” sounded like a Star Wars prequel, Hasan remarked, and asked Hamill how he got involved in the program.

“It’s not the army of droids, it’s the army of drones,” said Hamill.

He described himself as feeling “really surprised” to be contacted by Zelenskyy, and while he assumed they had seen his support for Ukraine on his Twitter account, “I’m not used to being contacted by world leaders. You know, I’m a court jester, I’m a non-essential worker, I do cartoon voices, and TV and movies.”

So he was really “honored” to be contacted to be a “so-called ambassador” for this program, “because drones define war outcomes” and have been “essential for Ukraine to protect their border, to protect their citizens.”

The program was soliciting both donations of actual drones and monetary donations to be used to buy drones, said Hamill.

The war was a “classic David vs. Goliath” situation, said Hamill, and the world had not seen a country “unilaterally invaded” like this since World War II, so “to see them fight back with such courage, it’s been an inspiration to see.”

Hasan asked what it was like to meet Zelenskky, “the leader of the resistance,” and Hamill described the Ukrainian president as a “fascinating character,” praising his leadership and how he had helped the Ukrainian people to have “banded together and reacted so heroically.”

“He’s a man of the people,” said Hamill, noting that he related to him because he had started out as an actor and appreciating the time he spent talking to him. “I thought, my gosh, this is a man that has a lot on his agenda. But he took the time. And who knows, I mean, maybe he’s just a Star Wars fan, like you.”

Hasan wrapped the segment mentioning how President Ronald Reagan had referred to the Soviets as the “Evil Empire” in the 1980s — a reference Zelenskyy himself had made in September when  he spoke with the actor.

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.