New Star Wars Actors Discuss Harrison Ford’s Impact

Few characters have had an impact on the Star Wars saga like Harrison Ford’s Han Solo.

The actor reprised the role for the sequel trilogy in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, helping shepherd a new generation of stories featuring brand new characters.

Newcomers like John Boyega and Lupita Nyong’o recently spoke with Star Wars Insider about the Ford’s impact on the franchise and what they learned from him while filming The Force Awakens.

“As he works on set, he has a great understanding of the artistic side of shooting a movie as well as the technical side of shooting a film,” said John Boyega. “If anyone asks me what I have learned from working with Harrison Ford on Star Wars, I’ve learned that whatever film I go on to after this, shooting a film or a movie as an actor is a balance of the technical and the artistic. As an artist, you’re portraying a role, being an actor, and performing.

“But the camera is the eye of the audience, so you have to also facilitate that. You have to facilitate the lighting, the positions, and the visual effects. Harrison knows how to do all of that with great balance, but also have fun and make it a comfortable set.”

While Finn and Han Solo shared a lot of screen time in their adventure, the Millennium Falcon pilot also introduced fans to the wisest barkeep in the galaxy in Nyong’o’s Maz Kanata.

“Working with Harrison has been precious. He knows this stuff,” Nyong’o said. “He’s worked on this scale of film many times before. He has shorthand with J.J. [Abrams] and the crew. To see him have such control and yet be so playful… That’s been so fascinating.

“On such a big set, with so many moving pieces, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and not know what’s going on. But, Harrison always seems to know what’s going on and zeroes in on that.”

Boyega spoke about connecting with Ford on a personal level.

“He spoke to me about all the things that he’d been through and all the things he’d seen over the years as an actor. It was great to learn from an actor [like him]. He’s a cool man,” Boyega said.

Unfortunately, Ford is not appearing in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, due to Han Solo being dead and all. But his impact will definitely continue to be felt in the new movie.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi premieres in theaters on December 15.