Turns out the person who’s the most nervous about a new Han Solo is the one who gets to play him. Although he’s been out promoting his role in another upcoming film, Rules Don’t Apply, Alden Ehrenreich has been sharing some personal anecdotes over the last few days about working on the upcoming Han Solo spinoff film and everything he’s been looking forward to–including working with Donald Glover, who has been cast as Han’s old buddy Lando Calrissian.
Ehrenreich revealed to Fandango that it was actually a helpful movie reference from one of the film’s directors, Phil Lord, that helped him put the experience into perspective when he stepped onto the Millennium Falcon set for the first time:
He said this is like that scene in Hoosiers where [Gene Hackman] takes the kids out to the basket — and I’m gonna botch this line — but he says something like, ‘How many feet up is that basket? 10 feet. And how many feet is it back home? It’s the same.’ … [Phil] saying that really meant a lot to me, and it clues you in to the fact that this is the same job. This is the job you get to do.
Ehrenreich also spoke with Variety about getting to work with Glover, adding that he was “allowed to say that [he’s] really excited”: “He’s such an interesting guy and a wonderful actor. And I think he’s going to do something with that role that’s going to be really exciting.” Based on that, it sounds like Ehrenreich and Glover haven’t filmed any scenes yet, but I’m looking forward to details moving forward.
And as for Han’s longtime partner Chewbacca? Well, his presence in the film is pretty much a given, though the Wookiee is still a very mature “190-or-something years old”, according to Ehrenreich. So it’ll be a younger Chewbacca we’ll be seeing–but that does beg one question: will he be a little shorter? Wookiees must have fairly severe growth spurts, after all.
Sadly, we still have to wait until 2018 for this movie, but I’m ready for that first photo of Ehrenreich and Glover in character as Han and Lando.
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