When we first heard Donald Glover had been tapped by Lucasfilm to play Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story, we thought it might end up being a perfect casting choice. If we had been in charge of picking any young actor to try and capture what we love about Billy Dee Williams‘ suave, charming scoundrel, it would have been him. And a new interview Glover gave about playing the future head of Cloud City has us confident his take will deliver the Lando we know and love. In fact, here are all the ways that Donald Glover’s take on Lando seems… well, perfectly Lando.
1. He’ll be charming
Our optimism was already vindicated this week when, we got our first look at Glover and his amazing costumes in the movie’s first teaser and full trailer. But now we have an idea of what we’ll see when he does actually does more than just loom debonairly, thanks to an interview he gave to Entertainment Weekly where he talked about how he approached the character. It started when Billy Dee Williams told him the key to playing the character was to “be charming” and “interested in things,” which Glover said he tried to incorporate into the role as much as he could.
2. He’ll be a bit of a spark-plug
Naturally, the Lando we see in Solo won’t be exactly the same person he is in the original trilogy, since we’re meeting him as a younger man. Glover says his Lando is a little more “over the top” than the older leader of Cloud City we know. In fact, Glover’s version is someone who doesn’t even know that kind of responsibility is something he’ll be capable of.
3. He’ll be stylish
As Glover told EW, he wanted to depict a version of Lando before even he knew how successful he’d become. The lack of responsibility referred to above is partly why Glover says Lando has enough leisure time to take “pride in the clothing” he wears, which, based on the trailers, we are very, very into.
4. He’ll be crafty
But there is one major trait of older Lando we’ll see even in this younger version of the man. Unlike his rash friend Han Solo, Lando likes to work within the system to get what he wants. “Lando likes rules because he’s somebody who is in a position to benefit from rules,” Glover said, adding that he’s good at getting around them because Lando is “smart enough to figure out a way to like get out of things,” especially by using loopholes.
That sounds a lot like the Lando who had a backup plan ready to go in The Empire Strikes Back, which allowed him to rescue Leia and Chewie from the clutches of Darth Vader and the Empire. Though that didn’t help him hold on to the (very clean) Millennium Falcon that he is destine to lose to Han.
5. He’ll appreciate “me time”
And that’s too bad, because it’s not just Lando Calrissian who loved that ship, Donald Glover himself adored it so much he would go to Lando’s room on the Millennium Falcon on set between shots. “I would just lay in his bed and read a book or write something because it is very comfortable. I think he likes to be comfortable. He’s not a cowboy kind of guy.”
6. He’ll be important, both in universe and out
Williams, who was the first and only major black actor in the original trilogy, also told him not to worry about representing all black people in the galaxy far, far away, but instead to focus on making Lando a “real person” by being himself. Which is a perfect way to describe the accessible, endearing character we met for the first time in The Empire Strikes Back.
Charming, smart, cunning, sophisticated, fun, and, of course, stylish—sounds like Donald Glover’s performance will give us everything we love about Lando Calrissian. Just like we thought he might.
What did Glover say that has you most excited about his portrayal of the character? Don’t keep your thoughts solo, share them with us in the comments below.
Images: Lucasfilm
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