Donald Glover Claims Being a Fan Made His Lando Performance Better in 'Solo: A Star Wars Story'

Gambler-turned-politician-turned-Rebel Lando Calrissian might not have gotten much screentime in the original Star Wars trilogy, but the charm of actor Billy Dee Williams made him almost instantly become a fan-favorite character. Given his legacy not just in the Star Wars franchise but also in all of science fiction would make portraying the character an intimidating task, though it wasn't something actor Donald Glover was afraid of. In fact, Glover claims that being a fan of the character helped elevate his performance of Lando in Solo: A Star Wars Story.

"You tend to do a better job of things when you're a fan. You have standards, a little bit," Glover shared with The Star Wars Show. "You just know what you would hate a little bit more. If that happened, you'd be like, 'This is wack.'"

The actor might be excited by the opportunity, though with Williams' portrayal of the character, Glover had to find the balance between embracing the character while not fully trying to replicate Williams himself.

"You don't want to do an imitation in this kind of thing," Glover noted. "You just want somebody to exude that feeling currently."

To get into the appropriate mindset, the actor turned to Lando's debut film, while also preparing to satiate his appetite.

"The day I found out I got it, I bought a whole pizza and went home and watched Empire Strikes Back," Glover admitted. "That was definitely the beginning, but then I just watched a bunch of cool '70s stuff that I thought would be his kind of style."

With Williams being intrinsically linked with the character, Glover did sit down to meet with the actor to help prepare for the role.

"It was really, really relaxed. He was great. I mean, I had a lot of questions," Glover revealed to Entertainment Weekly about his meeting with Williams. "And then he just told me, just be charming. [Laughs] And so, I was like, 'Okay!' I just kind of did that. He said, 'Just be interested in things.' Lando has, I wouldn't say eccentric, but eclectic tastes. So I tried to work that into the role as much as possible."

Fan cans see Glover's portrayal when Solo: A Star Wars Story lands in theaters on May 25th.

What do you think of Glover's performance so far? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

[H/T YouTube, Star Wars]