'Solo: A Star Wars Story' Actor Details Film's Troubled Production

Lucasfilm shocked Star Wars fans last summer when they announced that Solo: A Star Wars Story directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller left the project, news made all the more mysterious with neither party revealing the reason for the departure. Ron Howard stepped in to finish the film, in addition to helming reshoots to create a more unified vision of the story. Fans will see how the finished product holds up when it hits theaters in two months, but one actor on the film revealed just how drastically different the experiences were under the different leadership teams.

"Phil and Chris are good directors, but they weren't prepared for Star Wars," a source who chose to remain anonymous shared with Vulture. "After the 25th take, the actors are looking at each other like, 'This is getting weird.' [Lord and Miller] seemed a bit out of control. They definitely felt the pressure; with one of these movies, there are so many people on top of you all the time. The first assistant director was really experienced and had to step in to help them direct a lot of scenes."

The directing duo previously helmed The LEGO Movie and the 21 Jump Street films, which were all more rooted in comedy, improvisation, and innovation. A Star Wars film, on the other hand, has many more limiting factors in what can be accomplished in any given scene, which reportedly contrasted with Lord and Miller's directing style.

Howard, on the other hand, is an Academy Award-nominated director whose direction of the project changed the filming atmosphere almost immediately.

"When he came on, he took control and you could feel it," the source confirmed. "He got respect immediately. He's really confident. A really easy guy to work with."

Another reported issue with the film came before Lord and Miller's departure, with star Alden Ehrenreich requiring an acting coach to improve his take on the iconic character. According to the source, the acting coach had a major positive impact on Ehrenreich's portrayal.

"Trying to mimic Harrison Ford is really tough," the source noted. "Lucasfilm wanted something very specific: copying someone else. Alden's not a bad actor — just not good enough."

They added, "You could see his acting became more relaxed. He became more Harrison-like."

Ultimately, the source implied that Lucasfilm has a lot riding on Solo following the backlash The Last Jedi received from some audiences, in addition to its box office totals being slightly under its opening weekend projections.

"They have to make [Solo] good after The Last Jedi didn't make as much money as expected," the source pointed out. "If they want to keep making Star Wars movies, it has to be good."

Solo: A Star Wars Story lands in theaters on May 25th.

Are you hopeful about the upcoming Star Wars spin-off? Let us know in the comments below!

[H/T Vulture]