After dropping four Star Wars: The Force Awakens-themed covers featuring Han Solo, Rey, Finn, and R2-D2 and C-3PO earlier today, Entertainment Weekly has now posted an interview with Harrison Ford, during which he shared his thoughts on his impending return to the galaxy far, far away as Han Solo.
“He was always the cynical member of the original characters,” states Ford. “While we were invited to engage on the questions of some pretty arcane mysteries — the Force and the mythology that surrounds it — he was the guy who said, ‘What? Huh? Come on.’ There was a callow youth, a beautiful princess, a wise old warrior, and there was a smart-ass.”
As we’ve seen from the trailer, Han Solo has changed his viewpoint when it comes to the Force, with the character telling John Boyega’s Finn and Daisy Ridley’s Rey: “It’s true. All of it. The dark side. The Jedi. They’re real.” However, it seems we shouldn’t expect too much of a shift in character when it comes to the older Solo.
“There’s not an abandoning of the character [in The Force Awakens],” he continues. “He does not aspire to the position of Obi-‘Ben’ Kenobi, nor do I aspire to be some New Age Alec Guinness. His development is consistent with the character, and there are emotional elements which have occasioned his growth. We spend a lot more time [in the movie] on his failure to master basic skills, like accounting. And accounting for his own behavior. There’s a lot of the rogue still left in Solo. Some things don’t change.”
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Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set for release on December 17th in the UK and December 18th in the States and sees J.J. Abrams directing returning stars Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Kenny Baker (R2-D2), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar), in addition to Adam Driver (Girls), Oscar Isaac (A Most Violent Year), Andy Serkis (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Silent Witness), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), Ken Leung (Lost), Miltos Yerolemou (Game of Thrones), Max von Sydow (The Exorcist), Jessica Henwick (Spirit Warriors), Christina Chong (24: Live Another Day), Simon Pegg (Star Trek) and newcomers Crystal Clarke and Pip Andersen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=1KO8-kbSyfQ
Originally published November 11, 2015. Updated November 29, 2022.
