If you follow every Star Wars movie release and keep up with all the upcoming Star Wars movies and Disney+ original shows headed to the 2025 TV schedule and beyond, you know the galaxy is constantly expanding with new stories. But what you might not know is how many big names nearly became part of that universe. One surprising near-miss? Rapper and fashion icon A$AP Rocky, who once auditioned for one of the saga’s most legendary roles: Lando Calrissian. Unfortunately, the Harlem-born A-lister says the audition didn’t go well; in fact, he calls it a complete disaster.
Speaking with Variety, the rapper got candid about the experience. The performer didn’t sugarcoat the audition, owning the failure with the kind of brutal honesty rarely seen in Hollywood. According to him:
I auditioned for Star Wars — for Lando — and my audition was trash. I was trash that day. My man Childish Gambino [Donald Glover] was a way better Lando than I would’ve provided at that time. And I think he looked a little more like [Billy Dee Williams] than me.
That’s pretty honest. But hey, with Disney revealing their movie plans not long ago, and there is still so much Star Wars on the horizon, there’s always another shot at joining the beloved Universe. When asked if he’d ever want another shot at the role or something else in the Star Wars universe, the “Sundress” performer didn’t hesitate:
Hell yeah.
It’s a surprising admission, especially considering where Rocky is now in his acting career. He’s about to hit the 2025 movie schedule and the Cannes Film Festival, cast alongside Denzel Washington in Highest 2 Lowest, a Spike Lee-directed remake of Kurosawa’s High and Low. In the film he plays Yung Felon, a gritty upstart rapper trying to get noticed. It’s a role he shaped himself, even changing the original character name from MC Microphone Checka because, as he told the outlet:
I’m a Method actor — I’ve gotta embody this person.
That dedication to his craft makes his "trash" Lando audition super interesting. Rocky gets it now; the timing just wasn't right, both for the role and for the version of himself that walked into that audition room. He clearly respects Donald Glover’s take on Lando, and there’s no resentment in his voice. It’s all about self-awareness, which is wildly refreshing.
For Rocky, the missed opportunity seems less like a regret and more like a lesson. He’s now in a creative surge, between co-directing music videos, designing for Ray-Ban and Puma, prepping a new album (Don’t Be Dumb), and juggling fatherhood with Rihanna. His acting ambitions are only growing, with a second upcoming A24 film (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You) on the way.
So, will we ever see A$AP Rocky in the Star Wars universe? Maybe not as Lando, but don’t count him out. Until then, you can revisit Solo: A Star Wars Story and the rest of the franchise, which are streaming now with a Disney+ subscription.
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