The 72-year-old actor had starred as Luke Skywalker opposite the late Hollywood icon's Princess Leia in the sci-fi series' original and sequel trilogies but admits that his experience in the franchise was diminished by her death from a sudden cardiac arrest in 2016.
During his 'Mark Hamill Live' panel at Fan Expo Chicago at the weekend, he said: "My wife (Marilou York) came into the bedroom - she gets up earlier than I do - I was still asleep. She had tears rolling down her face saying that Carrie had ...
"It forever altered how I reacted to 'Star Wars' in general. The heart was gone. I don't talk about it because I don't like reliving it."
Reflecting on the original 1977 movie, Hamill paid tribute to his late co-star for bringing an "effortless feminism" to the franchise by standing strong against the dreaded Darth Vader and taking command of Skywalker and Han Solo (played by Harrison Ford).
He said: "I thought that it was effortless feminism to have the Princess be far from a shrinking violet.
"She was tough, she was telling Darth Vader off to his face - she was not intimidated by Darth Vader in the slightest.
"'I thought I recognised your foul stench' ... I mean, wow! Pretty mouthy, huh?
"And when we rescued her, she made chumps out of Luke and Han: 'You call this a rescue? Gimme that gun!'
"And she made us look like two stooges. I thought, 'That's effortless feminism', because it's not apologetic, it's just showing a woman is as [capable] as any man."
Hamill revealed that he and Fisher had a turbulent relationship but also shared a "special" connection with one another.
He told Esquire: "We could be as loving and supportive as possible, then we could have big arguments and say, 'Well, I never want to speak to you again,' and not speak for six months.
"But every time you came back, you picked up right where you left off. We had a connection that is special."