Billy Dee Williams, the star who played Lando Calrissian in the original Star Wars flicks. Well, it turns out he wasn’t exactly thrilled about Donald Glover snagging the role of a younger Lando in Solo: A Star Wars Story. The 86-year-old wasn’t feeling the direction they were taking the character or Glover’s portrayal of him.
I mean, imagine trying to fill the shoes of a character that everybody adores, and that’s some serious pressure! the actor’s views give us a little peek into the behind-the-scenes drama of the Star Wars cast.
Billy Dee Williams Reacted To Donald Glover As Lando In Star Wars
Billy Dee Williams, recently talked about Donald Glover taking on the role in the newer Star Wars stuff. You know, with all these new Star Wars shows and more movies coming out, they’re bringing back previous characters in different ways.
They used CGI to make a young Luke Skywalker, and for Lando, they got Glover to play him when he was younger. Dee Williams thought Glover did a good job, but he also wanted people to remember the original Lando.
In an interview with Radio Times, the Batman star talked about Glover playing Lando in Solo: A Star Wars Story and the upcoming Lando movie. He thought Glover was talented, and he was glad to see the character sticking around.
But he wasn’t ready to call Lando Calrissian because, to him, there was only one. He stated,
“He’s part of a whole new generation. He’ll create whatever he needs to create, to bring appeal to the character. He’s a very talented young lad and very imaginative. I mean, it’s not for me to say what he should do with the character at this stage.”
Further, he added,
“I took care of the 20th century, now he’s got to take care of the 21st. I had a nice little lunch with him. He’s a delightful young man. Extremely talented. But I don’t see him… I mean, when it comes to Lando Calrissian there’s only one Lando Calrissian. I created that character.”
Williams brought up some interesting talk about Star Wars and the challenge of bringing back old favorites. But let’s be real, nobody was saying Williams was the only one who made Lando Calrissian.
Billy Dee Williams Talks About Possibly Returning As Lando Calrissian
Nobody was arguing that Williams played a huge role in shaping the Lando Calrissian. The 40-year-old wasn’t trying to copy him exactly, but he was definitely drawing inspiration from Billy Dee’s version of the character.
Williams got folks excited when he talked about the possibility of coming back as Lando. He chatted in the same interview about his time in the Star Wars universe and whether he’d ever suit up as Lando again. Williams joked,
“Pay me a lot of money and I’ll sell my soul.” The last time we saw him as Lando was in The Rise of Skywalker back in 2019, where he joined the fight against Emperor Palpatine.
But since then, news about the Lando movie has been scarce. Star Wars seemed more focused on other projects, like the Mandalorian & Grogu movie and Daisy Ridley’s return as Rey. There was also some hope for the Patty Jenkins Rogue Squadron movie.
Fingers crossed we will see more of Lando Calrissian soon. Williams’s willingness to talk about coming back suggested he still had a love for the character and the Star Wars saga.
