STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS Crew on Harrison Ford's Return to Han Solo

The fact that Harrison Ford as come back to reprise his role of Han Solo is kind of a miracle. It's common knowledge that the actor wanted George Lucas to kill off the character in The Empire Strikes Back. Thankfully Lucas made the right decision to keep the character around! Over the years, Ford has talked about his dislike for the character, so it was a huge surprise to learn that he would be back for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. When fans saw him show up at the end of the second teaser trailer that was released, there were tears. 

Entertainment Weekly recently talked with several members of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens crew about Ford’s return to the franchise, and as you might expect, it was met with reverence from everyone who worked on the movie. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said:

“The minute Harrison and Chewie walked on board the Millennium Falcon — that was incredible. Every single person on the set was stunned. I remember turning around, and there must have been 200 people gathered behind me — completely quiet. I didn’t even know they were there. The whole crew had stopped working, staring at the monitor, because it was so iconic.”

That would have been quite a sight to see. It must have been such a cool experience to be there to see that. Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan added:

“It was sort of surreal for everybody, and it wasn’t just Han, it wasn’t just Harrison. It was seeing all this stuff. The Millennium Falcon has been a big part of my life, from Empire to Jedi to Force Awakens — and now I’ve written a movie about the young Han. So the Falcon has enormous resonance for me. And I don’t know if you can imagine what it would be like to watch things being shot on that set with those people.”

Oh, I have a pretty good imagination, and I'm sad that I wasn't there to be able to witness it. Director J.J. Abrams then offered his feeling on Ford's return, and the leg injury that he suffered on the set of the movie:

“It was obviously a horrible experience that I wish had never happened for obvious reasons. But the truth is, once we knew that Harrison was going to be okay, we all realized this was this greatest gift to the movie, and I would think that any filmmaker would say, ‘If I could get a break after a month of shooting, for a few weeks, to recalibrate, I would take it…When it became clear that he was going to be just fine, we realized we didn’t need to change (the script) at all. In fact, there are some places where he’s more active than he was prior to the accident. As you’ll see in the movie, he is running and doing more physical activity in this movie than I think anyone who knows he was injured would expect. Nothing was adjusted or lessened because of that accident. Even for Harrison, who is famously resilient and strong, he blew everyone’s minds.”

It's going to be so awesome seeing Solo in full-on action the way Abrams explained. I wasn't sure how much physical activity we would see from Ford in the film, but it sure does sound like there's going to be plenty of it for the fans to enjoy.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released in theaters on December 18th, 2015. We are so close, yet so far away! 

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