While Star Wars fans wait with bated breath to see if Billy Dee Williams will be brought back to reprise Lando Calrissian in Episode IX, next month we'll meet a younger Lando Calrissian being played by Donald Glover in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Glover was the second actor to be officially announced for the latest Star Wars flick, and even though Han Solo is the star of this particular show, judging from the footage that's been shown so far, Glover's Lando looks like he'll be quite the scene stealer. But like many of us, Glover was a Star Wars fan even before he joined Solo: A Star Wars Story. So when he found out he'd been cast in the movie, he appropriately grabbed a pizza and watched Lando's first appearance in the Star Wars franchise. When asked where he drew inspiration for his portrayal of Lando, Glover responded:
The day I found out I got it, I remember I bought like a whole pizza and went home and watched The Empire Strikes Back. That was definitely the beginning, but then I just watched a bunch of other cool '70s stuff that I thought would be his kind of style.
If I was an actor and just learned I'd been cast in one of the new Star Wars movies, I also probably would have gone home, ordered a pizza all for myself and watched one of the older entries from a galaxy far, far away. For Donald Glover, though, watching The Empire Strikes Back first was a wise decision, as that was where we all met the smooth Lando Calrissian, who at that point in time was the administrator of Cloud City. However, as Glover noted later during his interview with The Star Wars Show he didn't want to simply imitate Billy Dee Williams when playing Lando in Solo: A Star Wars Story, so it was a good call to check out other movies from the 1970s to get a sense of what Lando is like at this stage of his life. Still, if I were Glover, I might have sampled some Colt 45 liquor just to get in a Billy Dee-like frame of mind.
Much like Han Solo, Donald Glover's Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story hasn't quite become the character we know and love from the original Star Wars movies, and Glover mentioned that this is reflected through his hair styles (head and facial) and clothing choices, which includes an excess of capes. Lando is already on the rise in the galactic underworld at the beginning of Solo: A Star Wars Story, and he'll meet Han when the two of them join a crew that's been hired to pull off a dangerous heist.
Solo: A Star Wars Story will be released in theaters on May 25. Don't forget to also look through our 2018 release schedule to learn what other movies are coming out this year.
