Alden Ehrenreich Talks About His Experience Landing the Role of Han Solo
Writer and director's Phil Lord and Chris Miller took the stage at Star Wars Celebration to talk about their standalone Star Wars film that will focus on a younger version of Han Solo. In the process, Alden Ehrenreich was officially introduced to the fans as the actor who will be stepping into the boots of the characters.
The script for the film was written by Lawrence Kasdan and his son Jon and the story will focus on a version of the character who is in his early 20s. The movie is said to start shooting in the U.K. early next year at the end of January or early February. When talking about the character Lord said:
“I sort of relate to him. He doesn’t want to do anything he is told. He is very sarcastic and at the end of the day he is unreasonably optimistic. He is a grouchy, cynical guy with the biggest heart in the galaxy.”
Miller went on to say:
“He’s a maverick, a scoundrel. He is clever but he’s not smart. He wants to present himself as this tough guy but he is lovable. He is one of the most iconic characters of all time.”
Han Solo has always had a gritty charm about him that you can't help but love. It sounds like these guys are going to embrace that while making this movie. To find the right actor for the role Lucasfilm auditioned over 3000 actors! The directors joked that they even went to cowboy bars in search for the perfect guy to take on the role. Out of those 3000 people, Ehrenreich was the first one to audition. Miller said:
“We thought this was the hardest casting challenge of all time. They were the biggest boots to fill, but we cast the first person who walked through the door."
He looked over to Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and joked, “Sorry Kathy — we wasted your money.” Kennedy amusingly fired back at him with, “I am going to take it out of your salary." Ehrenreich briefly talked about his experience in the whole process saying:
“I read the sides and I loved them. I auditioned for six months. The coolest part was I went on the Falcon for a chemistry test with Chewbacca. It was unbelievable. It was more exciting than nerve-racking.”
Yeah, I would have been excited as hell to dress up as Han Solo and do a screen test with freakin' Chewbacca! Who wouldn't!? This guy landed a hell of a great acting gig and I think he's going to be a great fit for the character.
Lord and Miller went on to joke that the first 20 minutes of every screen test they did with an actor involved that actor drooling over being inside the Millennium Falcon, which makes complete sense. It's just something that should be expected.
I can't wait to see how Ehrenreich does in the role of Solo and I'm extremely excited to see what Lord and Miller have planned for this new story in his life. There's a lot of great talent involved with the making of this Star Wars standalone film so I'm confident that it will turn out to be a great movie.