Old met new as we learn via this article from Entertainment Weekly about Harrison Ford’s involvement in the creation of the backstory for Han in director Ron Howard’s Solo: A Star Wars Story.
According to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, Ford offered valuable insight on Han when speaking with lead actor Alden Ehrenreich:
“What [Ford] did so beautifully for Alden was he talked a lot about what he remembered when he first read Star Wars, and what George had done with Han. Who the character was and the conversations he had for so many years with George about how that character developed,” Kennedy says. “He gave Alden that kind of insight which was invaluable. There were several times in the course of making the movie where Alden would actually recount some of the things that Harrison had pointed out. I think that was really, really helpful to him.”
Ford also revealed when speaking with Ron Howard how he considered Han to be cut from the same cloth as Luke Skywalker in terms of not having a true family he can call his own and basically feeling like he led an orphaned life:
“Harrison’s a very thoughtful actor and an artist, and I wanted to know what he learned about the character,” Howard says. “He said that Han is always torn between that sense that he was, in a way, an orphan, and therefore both yearned for connection with people and struggled with it at the same time. I thought that was pretty interesting.”
There’s revelation No. 1 from Solo: The captain of the Millennium Falcon is just as cut off from his family as Luke and Leia, but he doesn’t have the loving surrogate mom and dad they had to give him a safe home. No Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen from Tatooine. No Bail Organa or Queen Breha from Alderaan.
EW will be continuing their coverage of Solo tomorrow with pieces on Lando, the character named Qi’ra played by Emilia Clarke, and more images from the film. Get caught up with today’s coverage via the respective links below.
EW ‘Solo’ Coverage Starts With Issue Cover, New Images, Character Details
‘Solo’ Character Name For Paul Bettany Revealed
Details On New ‘Solo’ Planet With A Familiar Name
Alden Ehrenreich Talks The Journey Of Han Solo With EW
