Donald Glover, Billy Dee Williams Meet To Talk Lando Calrissian And ‘Star Wars’
Star Wars fans need to prepare themselves because they’re probably about to see the greatest photo in the history of the galaxy. Well, at least the coolest, as Donald Glover and Billy Dee Williams met up to talk about all things Stars Wars, and someone captured a snap of it.
For those of you who don’t know, Billy Dee Williams portrayed Lando Calrissian in both 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back and 1983’s Return of the Jedi. But in the upcoming Han Solo anthology film, which went into production earlier this week, Donald Glover has been cast to portray a younger version of Lando Calrissian opposite Alden Ehrenreich’s Han Solo.
It was previously assumed that Donald Glover and Billy Dee Williams weren’t allowed to be in the same room together, otherwise the earth would implode as it couldn’t contain such coolness. These theories were put to the test, and ultimately proven wrong, when the duo met up back in January, and fans can only assume that the conversation turned to Lando Calrissian for at least a few minutes.
Sooooooo yesterday a certain Mr. Glover and a certain Billy Dee were lunching at my favorite spot in Los Feliz and UM OMG #LANDO #starwars pic.twitter.com/8ICWPoinai
— Loren LaRocc ? (@GODDOLLARS) January 23, 2017
The Star Wars team have clearly been setting up the cast behind the upcoming Han Solo film with their counterparts from the originals. That’s because earlier this month, Alden Ehrenreich, who went through a ridiculously long casting process to land the part of Han Solo, was snapped sitting down with Harrison Ford, who portrayed Han Solo in A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and The Force Awakens.
Two Han Solos grabbing lunch. ? pic.twitter.com/6utZicjcaZ
— Nico Sotomayor (@nicosotomayor00) January 4, 2017
But there’s every chance that Donald Glover might have had a little bit of explaining to do when he finally did get to sit down with Billy Dee Williams to discuss all things Star Wars and Lando.
That’s because, back in September, Billy Dee Williams admitted to the Huffington Post that not only had he never heard of Donald Glover, who at the time was repeatedly being linked to the role of Lando Calrissian, but he also insisted that the Star Wars franchise shouldn’t touch his character.
“I don’t know who Donald Glover is. But as far as I’m concerned, I would say they should leave that character alone. I don’t think you can do any more than what I did with that character. I think I made that character into something very special, and I can’t imagine anybody else doing it, to be very frank with you.”
Well, actually, Billy Dee Williams revealed one stipulation where he would be happy if Lando Calrissian was once again used in the Star Wars universe. If he was allowed to portray an elder version of the smuggler.
“Yeah, if that’s what they want me to do I would be very happy to do it – as an old man.”
Hopefully, Donald Glover was able to get across to Billy Dee Williams just how important Lando Calrissian is to him.
That’s because the Community and Atlanta actor has repeatedly insisted that he’s well aware of how much people love the character, even admitting to Deadline that it was the first ever toy that he owned.
“Lando’s a big deal. He’s the first toy I ever got… It’s interesting, when you have something iconic in a range when people pay attention to it, it’s hard. You want to live up to the expectation, but you can only live up to your own.”
Just in case Donald Glover didn’t already have enough pressure on his shoulders when it came to portraying Lando Calrissian, the actor recalled on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that when he told his mom and dad he’d been cast as the character, she immediately had some stern advice for her son.
“I told my dad, immediately. My mom was in the back, and she was like, ‘Don’t mess it up.’ She’s like, ‘Don’t mess this up!’ Because Billy Dee is like, that’s hers, you know?”
[Featured Image by Lucasfilm/NBC]
