Hey All!
As you all know I’m a HUGE Star Wars nerd and if you’re new here you can check out my Star Wars section HERE on the site which can prove it. If you’re a true Star Wars geek like I am, you’ve been waiting for a Han Solo movie which tells his origin story for as long as you can remember. Thankfully, that day has finally come with Solo: A Star Wars Story! I was lucky enough to attend the press junket and I had a blast checking out all they had on display and chatting with the cast. In attendance were Alden Ehrenreich (“Han Solo”), Donald Glover (“Lando Calrissian”), Emilia Clarke (“Qi’ra”), Paul Bettany (“Dryden Vos”), Woody Harrelson (“Tobias Beckett”), Thandie Newton (“Val”), Joonas Suotamo (“Chewbacca”), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“L3-37”), Director Ron Howard, and Jon Kasdan and Lawrence Kasdan (Screenplay).
We got to check out some of the amazing costumes from the film on display. Here is Han and Lando’s costumes.
We also got to tour the millennium falcon and take a picture with Chewbacca in the cockpit!
This was literally a dream come true! If you can’t tell by the photo, I’m as happy as I could possibly be! Even my baby in my belly was happy!
After all that fun we got to hear what the cast had to say about the film and I got to ask Donald Glover and Ron Howard a question. Here’s what some of the cast of Solo had to say!
Ron Howard was asked what was it like making a Star Wars movie and how was it different from other films he’s made?
RON HOWARD:
Well, it’s the galaxy far, far away you know and the level of anticipation is really unlike anything I’ve done. Even some pretty big titles with a lot of an interest. You fall into it and it’s amazing. I began to recognize it as something similar to the Beatles documentary that I took on, because I’m at a point in my life where I like experimenting. I like to take some chances. I’m not too worried about the outcome. I wanted to have the creative experience and I sort of felt that way about jumping into a Star Wars movie. But I also felt that way about jumping into the Beatles documentary and then I could tell from the moment it was announced, Ron, don’t f*** this up. So I immediately, you know, felt the same thing as related to this. Of course, you know the fans care and they should care.
He was also asked: Star Wars movies are known for incredible practical sets and also for visual effects. How did you feel about combining the two?
RON HOWARD:
As great as visual effects and CGI is, only the great CGI and the effect supervisors will tell you, in-camera is always what you want to go for first. You know, with the Millennium Falcon and with just the great sets and so forth, the approach here always was to try to get as much in-camera as you could, and then build effects. What’s so magical and amazing about ILM and what they can do to make the experience as palpable and immersive as it could possibly be. It’s a blast. The people around a movie like Solo are so dedicated to not just what’s existed before, but what else they could do within that framework, within that, that universe, that galaxy and creativity. It’s unbelievably stimulating for a filmmaker. Bradford Young did a great job. The look, which is a little different than the movies have looked before and an esthetic, you know, that I thought was incredibly exciting.
Alden and Donald were asked, what did it feel like for you to kind of step into their rolls and sit down in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon?
ALDEN EHRENREICH:
Yeah it’s really wild, it’s really exciting. It’s kind of bigger than you can even wrap your head around. It’s wonderful particularly being in the Millennium Falcon is very, very cool. And very much like being in the cockpit. You kind of get into the cockpit and for me it was two things — one, you get in and you can’t believe you’re in it and it’s so surreal and that’s what everybody you bring to set wants to see and they have that experience, too. And then, you know, a couple months into shooting in it, you’re inside of it and you’re flying it. You know where the buttons are. You know how the chair feels, you know the yoke and you feel like, okay, this is kind of like my ship now. That is deeply gratifying. Unbelievable. Oh my God. I also had lunch with Harrison right before we started shooting, I wanted to talk to Harrison, just to kind of pay respect and have him give us the blessings for the film. It was two years ago or something and, and he was really encouraging and really supportive and then we went off, shot the film and everything like that and today I was doing an interview and they were talking about the movie and they asked is there anything else you’d like to ask him? Because he’s right behind you. He came and he’s so effusive about the movie. And it meant so much to me and I know for Ron and the Kathy and everybody, you know, it’s just such a huge deal to have him really genuinely love it. And really genuinely enjoy the film and it meant a lot to me that he took the time to come out here and do that.
DONALD GLOVER:
I think as much as any like seven-year-old boy does. When I was a kid I would pretend to be lando and I had Darth Vader and a light saber and I bit it off and I gave it to Lando. And then my mom wouldn’t let me have the light saber anymore because she thought I’d choke on it. And like it was like really. I never thought I would be Lando one day. When I heard they were making these, I told my agent, I was like, if they’re making anything with Lando in it, I have to be Lando. And… and he was like, I hear you. I don’t like your odds. And that was exactly what I needed to hear. Because I really did audition like it was like the only role I wanted in the world, because it really was so important to me. I’m just really happy to be part of this experience of it. It’s really cool, but yeah, my dad kind of imprinted me with this kind of Star Wars’ longing. Because it does feel like the Bible to me in a lot of ways.
Emilia was asked: What is her relationship with Han and the rest of the gang?
EMILIA CLARKE:
I mean, playing mysterious is quite a difficult note. I’ve got to be honest. It was really fun. It’s really difficult to talk about because she is a pretty mysterious character. You kind of need to keep tabs on her throughout the movie and so I’m promoting a movie that you can’t really speak too much about. She is one of the harder ones to discuss. We meet her quite early on with Han and then they’re separated for whatever reason and when we find her again, she seems to have lived a pretty dark life in that time. So when you re-find her, you can’t quite figure out what it is that’s happened to her in the time that you haven’t been with her and who it is that she is now and I think that’s a question that kind of keeps coming up throughout the movie.
Woody was asked if he could tell us a little bit about what Beckett is like, how he feels about Star Wars and kind of how he saw him as a character. Thandie chimed in too with a super touching story!
WOODY HARRELSON:
Well, I thought it was a really easy character for me to play, because he’s a scoundrel and a thief, but I think really well-written and that’s the thing, that you have to be aware of. A lot of people who are Star Wars fanatics, this is their favorite Star Wars character which was really cool, but Larry and Jonathan really wrote an extraordinary script and just at the right time, Ron came in and, and did his magic and then you have all this, these wonderful characters and it’s pretty cool to get to be in a Star Wars — it’s also phenomenal.
THANDIE NEWTON:
There was the first day I went on set and I had my son with me and he was two years old and didn’t really know anything about Star Wars; he’s two, right. And we were in this amazing set; it was extraordinary. And I was chatting with, you know, the crew and stuff and my kid decided to walk away, I mean, I watched where he was going. He was walking towards R2-D2. And everyone kind of moved aside and my kid just walked over and the guide was operating R2-D2, the remote control — saw my son, knew it was my kid and started to make R2-D2 kind of chat to my kid, not in language, in R2-D2 speak. And my son would kind of gabble back and R2 gabbled to him and it ended, I kid you not, with my son hugging R2-D2. That was the first impression my son has had of that character of Star Wars. I mean this is the stuff that dreams are made of. You know. My little boy didn’t have anything to do with Star Wars — but these characters have a kind of magnetism that is unparalleled. I mean, for all of us as… when we were kids. I was like seven when the first movie came out. I’ll never forget it. That scroll of white going into black; John Williams’ music, it was — his stuff like imprints on your psyche. I think that it goes so far beyond even us as filmmakers, just the stuff that dreams are made of. Really.
I got to ask Donald and Ron a question. I asked what was Donald’s favorite cape in the film and did he get to take one home? And I thanked Ron for giving Warwick Davis a line in the actual Star Wars film. I didn’t know he was going to give me a whole story on Warwick, but it was an awesome surprise.
DONALD GLOVER:
At the end of the film, there’s like a tiny white summer cape that like stops like right here on the shoulders like this. It’s not functional at all. It’s literally just a few inches of fabric like here. It has no function like the function of the longer ones, you know, you can be like cold and wrap yourself up in the longer one. This is a summer cap and is literally just more fabric on your back. It makes a statement playing, it’s like, I’m not giving up on this cape thing. So I love that cape, because it really is just all flare. And no, I wasn’t able to bring any capes home with me. I’m sure, you know, Star Wars has that locked up but the fur cape I had, they had extra material and they made a pillow out of it for me. And now I have a fur pillow that I try and wear as a cape, but it winds up being a summer cape.
RON HOWARD:
You mentioned Warwick… what a great guy. You know of course, he did Willow, but he’d been an Ewok before that and so you know he’s a tradition and another master. And the other thing is, is that he, he helps out with a lot of it, a lot of the characters and a lot of the droids and things like that and he will come in help scenes and he goes uncredited. He loves it. But the, the company is smart enough to bring him in and not only play a character, but also help with coaching and setting up and figuring out some of these behaviors and he’s a really creative guy and an old friend and it’s great to reunite with him.
Jon Kasdan also chimed in…
JON KASDAN:
And Warwick’s daughter came as well and was there with us on set and in some of the droid fights, it’s the two of them against each other. It was incredibly fun!
And that’s all folks! Had a blast covering this and the cast seems to be having the best time as well! SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY opens in theatres everywhere on May 25th! Get your tickets now!
You can find more info on the film at the official SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY site: http://www.starwars.com/films/solo
Stay tuned for our thoughts on the film Friday!
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