Whether you agree with Mark Hammil that Disney needs to “slow down” with the Star Wars movies or not, you’ve got to admit you’re looking forward to the upcomingSolo: A Star Wars Story movie. The movie will focus on the story of young Han Solo (played by Alden Ehrenreich) and see appearances from fan favorites like Chewbacca, the Millennium Falcon, and even Lando Calrissian, played by Donald Glover. Both actors stopped by the YouTube show Star Wars News to talk more about their roles before the movie is released next month on May 25, after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival about 10 days earlier.
“The day I found out I got [the role] I bought a whole pizza and went home and watched The Empire Strikes Back,” Glover said. That was the beginning of his preparation for the role, which was supplemented by “watch[ing] a lot of '70s stuff that I thought would be his kind of style.”
“You don’t want an imitation in this sort of thing,” he explained. Billy Dee Williams, who made this character famous, actually mentored Glover and helped him embody the Lando character, but the idea is to emulate, not imitate. “You just want somebody to exude that feeling currently,” he explains.
Ehrenreich had a similar strategy for paying young Han. “You absorb all the original movies and look at everything and try to take that in and get the spirit of it,” he said. “Just feel it in your bones a little bit.”
Glover is a documented fan of Star Wars and the Lando character in particular. While that might make the stakes that much higher, he’s also aware that his existing knowledge of the franchise can only help him in his role as Lando.
“You tend to do a better job of things when you’re a fan, you have standards a little bit,” Glover said. “You just know what you would hate a little bit more.”
"I like seeing Han and Lando beforehand because it allows you to know that, yeah, people aren't perfect. People have to grow," Glover continued. “Especially with Lando’s clothing and facial hair choices, you can tell he’s not quite there.”
As for Han, you can expect a slightly different version of the character we all know and love.
“You’re meeting him at a time when he’s younger and more of an idealist, he still has kind of a romantic vision or a feeling that he’s gonna get out of this,” Ehrenreich said about Han’s journey.
Another thing to look forward to? According to Ehrenreich, Solo “has a lot of jokes, a lot of humor.”
