One of the most anticipated elements of the upcoming Han Solo: A Star Wars Story has to be the casting of Donald Glover as the titular character’s friend and fellow smuggler, the ever-suave Lando Calrissian. The rapper and former Community star – who recently received a flurry of recognition for his FX series Atlanta – recently shared just how important this latest role is to him.
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“It’s a really cool, iconic role. You couldn’t say no to it.” Glover explained in a recent interview with the Big Boy’s Neighborhood radio show.
It is easy to say that Glover has some big shoes to fill, given the beloved performance by Lando’s initial actor, Billy Dee Williams, in the original Star Wars trilogy. Glover himself recognized it, saying that he was approached about it by fans in the months between the first casting rumors and him eventually booking the role. “There’s a lot of pressure, when you walk down the street, and people are like, ‘Yo, I’m excited about that Lando thing.”
The 33-year-old says that he is more than ready to honor the originator of his role, while still providing a unique spin on it. “People are excited about it, but also I get to do it in a new way. I take it really seriously.”
Glover also revealed that he had to go through around four separate auditions to land the part. And although Glover is now an established actor, he didn’t want his fame to distract from his performance. “I wanted to show them that I know what I’m doing. I definitely came in, and we had to test with people, and see how our chemistry is and stuff.”
While fans will have to wait quite some time to see Glover’s onscreen chemistry with his costars, he did reveal that he has one part of the character’s iconic costume ready to go.
“I just grew the mustache, man.” He said with a laugh. “It just happened.”
After Han Solo: A Star Wars Story wraps, Glover will have another iconic role to step into. It was recently revealed that he will be playing the role of Simba in Disney‘s upcoming live-action remake of The Lion King, alongside fellow Star Wars actor James Earl Jones as Mufasa.
If you’re getting excited about the Han Solo movie, be sure to give it an anticipation rating at the bottom of the page!
Jon and Lawrence Kasdan wrote the screenplay, and many Star Wars veterans are on board the Millennium Falcon once again including: Neal Scanlan (Creature & Droid FX Creative Supervisor), Neil Lamont (Production Designer), Dave Crossman and Glyn Dillon (Co-Costume Designers), Jamie Wilkinson (Prop Master), Lisa Tomblin (Hair), Amanda Knight (Make-Up) and Nina Gold (UK Casting Director).
Han Solo: A Star Wars Story is filming now under directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller for a May 25, 2018 release. Alden Ehrenreich stars as a young Han Solo and Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca in the era before Star Wars: A New Hope, before they met Leia and Luke and embarked on a galaxy-saving adventure. Donald Glover also stars as Lando Calrissian, with Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Emilia Clarke in as-yet-unrevealed co-starring roles.
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