‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ Cast Reveals How Many Times They Hugged Chewbacca

Chewbacca may be a tall, imposing figure but the fur-covered Wookiee is more than just Han Solo’s loyal friend. Turns out he’s also a hug magnet as the cast of the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story revealed.

During a Twitter fan question and answer session, the cast of Solo were asked how many times a day they hugged the iconic Wookiee — or rather, actor Joonas Suotamo who plays Chewbacca in the film — and it turns out Chewie got hugged a lot. Distractingly a lot.

“Kind of an uncomfortable amount of times,” Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who plays the droid L3-37, said. “It gets in the way of other things. Like lunch. He’s honestly so good at it. He’ll always hug you back.”

Donald Glover elaborated that there while there was a lot of hugging going on, there was a very good reason for it. Glover said that Chewbacca simply smelled amazing.

“You do it a lot,” Glover confirmed. “He smells so good because there’s conditioner on him, it smells really good. And he’ll always hug you. He’s never in a bad mood.”

The conditioner might come as a surprise to some fans, but the costume Suotamo wears is made up of yak and rabbit fur and requires special care to keep it clean and fresh for use. That included regular washes with shampoo and conditioner. Alden Ehrenreich said that that contributed to why everyone wanted to hug Chewbacca.

“Everybody was hugging Chewie as much as they possibly could,” he said. “And also, they washed the yak hair suit that he’s in with shampoo and conditioner, so he actually smells pretty wonderful.”

Suotamo, who took over the role of Chewbacca from Peter Mayhew full-time beginning with The Last Jedi, agreed that Chewbacca’s smelling good was a contributing factor, though he attributed it less to the shampoo and more to the combination of vodka and tea tree oil misted on the suit. And while all of the hugging did interfere a bit, Suotamo has said that the hugging was important. He recently told the Wall Street Journal that giving cast Wookiee hugs was a “civil service.”

Civil service or not, it’s something that the cast certainly enjoyed with Paul Bettany going so far as to admit that hugging Chewbacca is irresistible.

“The first time I hugged Chewie I wasn’t supposed to, I was just supposed to shake his hand, but you can’t help yourself but go in for a cuddle and there is nothing better than being held by a Wookiee,” he said.

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

Why do you think everyone wanted to hug Chewbacca? Was it the cuddly factor or the awesome-smelling hair care? Let us know in comments below!