Dave Franco expresses his uncertainty about the role of Solo and what directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are looking for.
[dropcap size=small]T[/dropcap]he upcoming Han Solo standalone film has one giant hurdle to conquer before it gets into gear, and that’s casting the role of everyone’s favourite smuggler. It’s certainly no easy task, Harrison Ford made the part so completely his own, and whoever gets cast has generations of fans to win over.
It’s a challenging prospect for any young actor to take on a re-incarnation of a much-loved character; especially one as seminal as Solo. As a self-proclaimed die-hard Solo fan myself, it’s hard to imagine anyone but Ford in the role, so you’ve got to give kudos to whoever wins the coveted part and attempts to make their mark in the scruffy-looking Nerfherder’s shoes.
Recent reports suggest that Hail Ceaser actor Alden Ehrenreich is at the forefront in the running for the role, but several contenders have gone up against Ehrenreich, including Kingsmen’s Taron Egreton and Whiplash’s Miles Teller.
Another competitor in the running is Now You See Me’s Dave Franco, who spoke to MTV about the audition process whilst promoting Now You See Me 2 at CinemaCon. It seems Franco was very much kept in the dark about the part, or what approach directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were taking to tackle the tough task of casting Solo:
I’m not good with impressions or anything like that. I think that’s the reason why it’s so hard to cast this role. Do they want someone to perfectly embody who Harrison Ford is, or do they want to go a completely different route? Do they want someone to look really similar to him? I don’t know, I think they’re struggling with that.
It’s not hard to imagine why they’re struggling, it would be surprising if they weren’t in all honesty. It will be interesting to see just how much they want the new Solo to emulate Ford’s portrayal, and how far they’ll go with that.
Will it be a scenario where the actor mimics Ford’s mannerisms, or will it be more of an embodiment of the spirit of Solo as a character? It will most probably be the latter, but from what Franco’s saying, the directors have been trying many different angles.
Given that we don’t know what the spin-off film’s plot will entail, it’s hard to know what direction they’ll likely go in, but with a lot riding on who gets cast, it’s not going to be an easy undertaking. We’ll just have to wait and see how this all plays out in future.
The as yet Untitled Han Solo Star Wars Anthology Film is slated for release 25 May, 2018.
