As officially announced yesterday, Finnish-born actor Joonos Suotamo will be taking over the role of Chewbacca from Peter Mayhew for the currently-in-production Han Solo Star Wars spinoff film.
Suotamo, who also performed as Chewie alongside Mayhew in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens and will do so again in this year’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, has now posted a statement expressing his excitement and gratitude over landing the role, and sharing his thoughts what Star Wars means to him. Check out the Instagram post below:
I'm ecstatic. It's official. And here is my statement to this terrific piece of news https://t.co/a1DPsNDb2P pic.twitter.com/r4EUZ2r17V
— Joonas Suotamo (@JoonasSuotamo) February 21, 2017
Starring Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!) in the leading role as the iconic smuggler, the Han Solo film is directed by Chris Miller and Phil Lord and also features Donald Glover (Atlanta) as Lando Calrissian, Joonos Suotamo as Chewbacca, Woody Harrelson as Han Solo’s mentor, and Game of Thrones‘ Emilia Clarke, Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Westworld’s Thandie Newton in as-yet-unrevealed roles.
Originally published February 22, 2017. Updated November 30, 2022.
