Mark Hamill to Step In for Steiger

By Jo Cavallo

07/15/2002 at 01:00 PM EDT

Mark Hamill, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, has replaced actor Rod Steiger, who died last week from pneumonia and kidney failure at the age of 77, in an independent film called "Constricted," reports the Associated Press. Steiger, who was cast as a small-town funeral director, was taken off production when he became ill and replaced by Hamill, 51, who was originally cast to play a bartender. The film, being partially shot in Watertown, Wis., follows the story of a 36-year-old man who returns home to find that his father has committed suicide. The funeral director believes that the suicide was really murder, and starts to suspect the son. The film is expected to finish filming July 25 and is scheduled to be released early next year.