It’s been an interesting period in the career of beloved actor Mark Hamill – he made what was probably his last appearance in the iconic role of Luke Skywalker in 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and then joyfully leapt into the role of a vampire on FX’s humorous TV series What We Do in the Shadows. However, what has certainly been the least expected (but nonetheless quite enjoyable!) of the actor’s recent roles was his appearance as country singer Phillip Combs in the musical comedy Royalties.
What made Hamill’s Royalties appearance so unique? Well, to put it bluntly….because it culminated with his character crooning a country tune about the size of King Kong’s, er….”Little King”.
Royalties, produced for the short-form video platform Quibi, stars Glee’s Darren Criss and Pitch Perfect’s Kether Donahue as Pierce and Sara, a pair of struggling songwriters whose goal is to create a great new song each episode. These songs, which were primarily written by Criss, were performed by musicians including Julianne Hough, Jordan Fisher, and Rufus Wainwright. All ten episodes of the series were released earlier in June.
Hamill’s song, titled “Mighty as Kong” was written when Donahue’s character Sara encountered a hookup who simply could not stop talking about how King Kong’s junk probably wouldn’t actually be all that large. The song features Hamill and his backup band clad in cowboy hats and spurs alongside a music video which uses some rather…less-than-special effects to bring the great ape himself to life. Its humorous lyrics include Hamill’s character insisting that being proud of your genitalia size, no matter how small, was simply an American thing to do.
“Mighty as Kong”, which can be viewed for free on YouTube, has received the most attention out of the songs performed on Royalties. This should come as no surprise – Hamill has not traditionally been known as a singer, but he tackles the bawdy ballad with his signature enthusiasm and absolutely infectious smile.
An official Royalties soundtrack, which will feature “Mighty As Kong” in addition to other songs performed on the show, is currently planned for release on July 2.
