It’s only been three years since Troy Barnes set sail on Community, never to be seen again. But in that time, Donald Glover has been everywhere: on television, with the Emmy-nominated Atlanta; in movies, with memorable roles in Magic Mike XXL, The Martian, and Spider-Man: Homecoming (not to mention the forthcoming Han Solo movie and The Lion King remake); and in your iTunes, with one of the best albums of 2016, “Awaken, My Love!” It’s a shame Glover needed to leave Community during season five of the show’s six-season run, but creator Dan Harmon understands why.
“You can’t tell that guy, ‘Oh, now this is the time you’re going to fail, so you should definitely not keep moving forward,'” Harmon told The Hollywood Reporter. “Look at his ascent. If I were Donald Glover, I would try eating the moon, because we’re not so sure he can’t until he tries since everything he tries he succeeds at.” Community continued without Glover, but, Harmon admits, “I needed to convince myself that Donald leaving wasn’t the death of the show, but now that it’s all over, I think we can agree that it was.”
Tina Fey, who hired Glover to write for 30 Rock when he was only 23, backed Harmon’s comments, saying, “Normally you’re in the position of telling people, ‘Maybe pursue [acting] on the side. Don’t give up your income.’ Because you don’t feel like they’ll make it. But with Donald, the answer was clearly, ‘Yep. You’re wasting valuable time here. Go get famous.'”
He did, and he’s about to get more famous. Glover was cast as smooth-talking Lando Calrissian in the Han Solo movie, a dream come true for a life-long Star Wars fan. When he first met Billy Dee Williams, who played the Cloud City administrator in the original trilogy, Glover was nervous, peppering him with deep questions about portraying such an iconic character. Williams’ response: “Yeah, I don’t know about all that. Just be charming.”
It went like this, basically.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
