It seems the legions of Star Wars fans weren't the only ones caught off guard by Disney's recent purchase of Lucasfilms; even star Mark Hamill was surprised by the news.  However, Hamill did know of the plans for a new Star Wars sequel trilogy, since he had met with George Lucas over the summer to plan for the films.  We reported earlier today that the Luke Skywalker of Star Wars Episode VII is expected to be in his 30s or 40s; with Hamill currently at 61, what role could he possibly have in the next film?  Hit the jump to see what Hamill had to say about the impending additions to the Star Wars franchise.In an interview with EW, Hamill spoke openly about his surprise over the sale of Lucasfilms and the rights to Star Wars by Disney:

Oh my gosh, what a shock that was! I had no idea that George was going to sell to Disney until I read it online like everybody else... I missed his call yesterday, but I spoke to him maybe three weeks ago. But until we know more, it’s hard to make any comment other than congratulations to George.

Hamill also revealed that he had been in contact with Lucas over the summer, along with Carrie Fisher:

He did tell us last summer about wanting to go on and do [Episodes] VII, VIII, and IX, and that [newly appointed Lucasfilm president] Kathleen Kennedy would be doing them...Yeah, last August, he asked Carrie and I to have lunch with him and we did. I thought he was going to talk about either his retirement or the Star Wars TV series that I’ve heard about—which I don’t think we were going to be involved in anyway, because that takes place between the prequels and the ones we were in and, if Luke were in them, he’d be anywhere from a toddler to a teenager so they’d get an age-appropriate actor—or the 3-D releases.

So when he said, “We decided we’re going to do Episodes VII, VIII, and IX,” I was just gobsmacked. “What? Are you nuts?!” [laughs] I can see both sides of it. Because in a way, there was a beginning, a middle, and an end and we all lived happily ever after and that’s the way it should be—and it’s great that people have fond memories, if they do have fond memories. But on the other hand, there’s this ravenous desire on the part of the true believers to have more and more and more material. It’s one of those things: people either just don’t care for it or are passionate about it. I guess that defines what cult movies are all about. We’ll see. I’m anxious to know what’s going on, but the main story [yesterday] was the sale to Disney. I have mixed feelings about that, but they haven’t done badly by Marvel and the Muppets and Pixar. It’s one of those big decisions that at first seems unusual but then the more you look at it, the more it makes sense.

As to whether or not Hamill has any insight as to the plot of the upcoming films:

Well, no, he was just talking about writers and the fact that he wouldn’t be directing. I guess he wanted us to know before everybody else knew. He said, “Now you can’t tell anybody!” [laughs] Even now I’m nervous about saying anything. I just don’t know!

Be sure to head over to EW for the full interview.  Be sure to catch up on all of our recent Star Wars coverage at the following links: