Disney and Lucasfilm Narrow The Search For Young Han Solo
Disney, Lucasfilm, and directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller are still on the hunt for an actor to play young Han Solo in the upcoming Star Wars spin-off film. As you might expect, finding someone to fill Harrison Ford's shoes has been a huge challenge. After narrowing the search from 2,500 actors down to about ten, THR reports that "a final shortlist has quietly emerged" for the coveted role.
Though the outlet cautions that there could still be a few other names on the list, they reveal that tests were conducted in London this past weekend that involved Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!), Jack Reynor (Transformers: Age of Extinction), and Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Eddie the Eagle). While Ehrenreich was terrific in Hail, Caesar!, I don't know if he's the best fit for the swaggering Solo. Of this trio, I'm leaning toward Egerton right now, but that's because I've only seen Reynor in Transformers 4, which was basically a pile of hot sewage. I've heard he's really good in the upcoming film Sing Street, and he definitely has fans who know his range goes far beyond what Michael Bay required in that garbage pit of a movie.
Variety reporter Justin Kroll chimed in on Twitter to add two more names to the list of contenders:
Blake Jenner appears in Richard Linklater's upcoming Everybody Wants Some!!, while Jack O'Connell delivered standout performances in Starred Up, '71, and Unbroken. I'm still leaning toward Egerton because I haven't seen a lot of those films from the other actors yet. If it gets narrowed down to just these actors, who do you think would make the best Han?