Donald Glover’s passion for Star Wars encouraged him to return to the franchise.
The actor is set to reprise his role as Lando Calrissian in a new spin-off movie and explained how his love for the character inspired him to reenter the legendary space opera.
“[“Mr. and Mrs. Smith” co-star] Maya [Erskine] and I talk about nos a lot, it’s the only power you have in this industry. But I said yes because I like the characters and my kids love Star Wars. And at this point, I just know when something’s going to be good because you’re really fighting the industry when you [put your imprint on a franchise of that magnitude]. And it’s not like … I was going to say — and it’s not like I hate the industry —but now I’m like, ‘Do I hate the industry?'”
The “Community” star initially played the part of Calrissian in the 2018 film, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and recalled how Billy Dee Williams — who first starred as the character in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back — told him to be “charming” as the space smuggler.
“I was like, ‘I’ve always felt like this character could do this, and he represents this, and I kind of feel like he comes from here, and it’s very obvious he has a lot of taste, so maybe he grew up seeing that from afar? Because I’m like that. Maybe he saw it from other planets and was like, ‘I want to be that,'” Glover recalled. “[Williams] just let me ramble on and on, and then finally I was like, ‘So, what do you think?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, I don’t know about all that. Just be charming.'”
