He was the one who shot first in the famous cantina scene and gave Princess Leia a swashbuckling smile. Han Solo, smuggler, great pilot and owner of the fastest ship in the galaxy – the Millennium Falcon has been inseparably associated with the now 80-year-old American actor –
Wasn’t Harrison Ford supposed to play Han Solo? The movie star tells how she turned down the role
Almost known from “Blade Runner”, a series of films about “Indiana Jones” or from “” just an artist, would not become an actor. The environment did not give him a chance, so he decided to learn a certain trade in his own hands and became a carpenter. Longing for the stage, however, won out, and in 1973 George Lucas cast him in his film “American Graffiti”, which brought him considerable success and popularity.
While Ford’s collaboration with the “Star Wars” creator went very well, when Lucas considered casting Han Solo in the latest film, the actor-carpenter wasn’t the first thing to come to mind. Christopher Walken, Kurt Russell, Sylvester Stallone and Al Pacino auditioned for the role of the smuggler. The latter had already performed in “The Godfather”, which brought him great recognition.
“Harrison Ford owes me his career”
In an interview with Variety, the actor confessed that he turned down the role in “Star Wars”. “When you become famous, they want to give you every role, they would give me Queen Elizabeth to play,” Pacino joked in an interview. “They offered me so much money that I don’t understand it to this day. I read the script and replied that I couldn’t play it. Harrison Ford owes me his career,” added the actor.
This is just one version of the Han Solo story. Most often, however, it is said that Lucas was looking for unknown faces to cast, and it was casting director Fred Roos who persuaded him to give Ford a chance. It quickly turned out that the 34-year-old fits the role perfectly, and his sense of humor is said to have determined this. The rest is already history.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
