Around nine months ago, Walt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm announced that Christopher Miller and Phil Lord would be helming the ‘Star Wars Anthology’ film written by Lawrence and Jon Kasdan that would focus on Han Solo. A few months later, reports surfaced that said the studio was testing over 2500 actors for the role of the infamous smuggler during his younger years. Names like Miles Teller, Nick Robinson, Logan Lerman, Chandler Riggs, Hunter Parrish, and Tom Felton were just a few of the names that met with casting director Jeanne McCarthy in an effort to snag the coveted part made famous by Harrison Ford. Now, as the search seems to have recently entered the final stretch, one of the actors that met for the role has recently shared his experience.
While promoting ‘Now You See Me 2’ at CinemaCon with Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco spoke to MTV about the audition process for the upcoming Han Solo spinoff. The star known for films such as ‘Neighbors’, ’21 Jump Street’, and ‘Fright Night’ played it cool by saying it was another day on the job:
“It’s like most other auditions. No, but it is! I went in an had a good time. But because of the nature of what it is, it just explodes everywhere. It’s like, ‘Oh, my God,’ and everyone’s coming up to me like, ‘Dude, what’s going on?’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t know! You know as much as me!’ I don’t want to underplay. I’m very flattered to have been, or to be — wherever they are in the conversation. But, like, it is what it is.”
As of last week, the conversation appears to be in the ending stages as ‘Hail, Cesar!’ star Alden Ehrenreich is considered the favorite for the part. But it definitely came after a rather lengthy process since there was a number of different ways to approach the character. And as Franco suggests, the studio’s process was meticulous because they were also trying to figure out which avenue to take as they went along:
“I think that’s part of the reason it’s so hard to cast this role. It’s like, do they want someone to perfectly embody who Harrison Ford is, or do they want to go in a completely different route? Do they wasn’t someone to look really similar to him? I think they’re struggling with that.”
Honestly, I didn’t think that Franco would have been a great fit for Han Solo, but it is interesting to know that Disney and Lucasfilm were exploring all of their options. And though Ehrenreich may be the favorite, we’re still anxiously awaiting the official word, so anything can happen. Let’s just hope that the news comes sooner rather than later.
Who do you hope lands the part of Han Solo in the upcoming ‘Star Wars Anthology’ film? Do you think that Dave Franco would have been a good fit? Let us know in the comments below.
The currently untitled Han Solo film is set to hit theaters on May 25, 2018.
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences and puns far too much. Also, he’s interested in who will be playing a young Lando Calrissian in the movie. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
