Donald Glover Opens Up on Playing Lando Calrissian in SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY and Offers Details About The Character
One of the things most Star Wars fans can agree on regarding this upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story film is that Donald Glover looks awesomely cool in the role of Lando Calrissian. We've hardly even heard him talk, but he's the character we all can't wait to see in action on the big screen.
During a recent interview with EW, the actor talked about playing the character and offered up some interesting insights that you might be interested in reading. First of all, he opened up a little bit about his meeting with Billy Dee Williams, who originally played the character:
"It was really, really relaxed. He was great. I mean, I had a lot of questions. And then he just told me, just be charming. [Laughs] And so, I was like, 'Okay!' I just kind of did that. He said, Just be interested in things.' Lando has, I wouldn’t say eccentric, but eclectic tastes. So I tried to work that into the role as much as possible."
When asked what he was most curious about the character when talking to Williams, the actor said:
"I just wanted to know, Star Wars was such a big deal and then they make the second one and you’re kind of the first and the almost only black guy in the universe at that point. I was like, How did you go into that? What were your thoughts? It’s always a big thing when you break a mold. What was the thought process of that? He gave some good advice about this, about being yourself as much as possible, making the character a real person, rather than the whole identity for a whole group of people."
Glover then goes on to talk about the Millenium Falcon and what the ship reveals about Lando, saying:
"He’s a very particular person with particular tastes and he likes the comforts of life. I would live in it right now, to be honest! [Laughs] In between takes, they’d be like, 'Okay, we are going to set up for the next shot , so you can go sit in your chair or whatever,' and I’d be like, 'Actually I’ll just stay in Lando’s room.' It was that nice! I would just lay in his bed and read a book or write something because it is very comfortable. I think he likes to be comfortable. He’s not a cowboy kind of guy."
A lot of fans might think that Lando isn't the kind of guy to play by the rules, but when, in fact, he is very much a guy that sees the ways he can benefit from following the rules.
"He likes to know his way in and out of any situation that he’s in. Lando likes rules because he’s somebody who is in a position to benefit from rules.
"He’s smart enough to figure out a way to like get out of things, like loopholes, And I think Han is more of a rule breaker and he can kind of get away with it."
Don't worry, Glover doesn't forget to boast about the character's dapper good looks a charism:
"Lando’s not really the best dressed person on that set. And I don’t say that lightly. There’s just a lot of cool costumes and a lot of cool clothing. Lando’s clothing, that’s what I like. I was secretly super happy. His clothing is another spice of life. He takes pride in the clothing. It makes things easier. When people see you and you’re debonair, they tend to want to give you stuff easier. [Laughs]"
When talking about making Lando his own character and what he contributed to the character, he explains that he wanted to dive into what he was like before his time at Cloud City in Empire Strikes Back.
"I always like seeing younger characters when they are in younger times because it tells a lot about how they got to where they are. Like, when I was a teenager I felt like I knew a lot, but I didn’t. By the time we meet him in Empire Strikes Back, he owns the city already. [Laughs] So, I wanted to show the person he was before that was even possible. Like, I don’t even know if he thought that was possible at the time."
I can’t wait to see more of Lando Calrissian in action in Solo: A Star Wars Story. As awesome as I'm sure he'll be, I also hope that Alden Ehrenreich will be just as great as Han Solo. The movie hits theaters on May 25, 2018.