Harrison Ford’s legendary resume is taken for granted now, but back in 1977, he was an actor with only a few minor roles underneath his belt. As someone who could only get intermittent work, he was a stagehand and a carpenter first, actor second. Then, he stood out in George Lucas’ American Graffiti in 1973, and that performance put Ford in the front of Lucas’ mind when it came to casting the role of the dastardly smuggler that everyone loves.
With The Force Awakens dominating the world (galaxy?) and Harrison stealing the show once again with his fourth time playing Han Solo, there’s no better time to look back nearly forty years to see that Harrison playing Han was always perfect. Harrison Ford is Han Solo, and Han Solo is Harrison Ford.
Watching this casting clip with Harrison and Mark Hamill trying to figure out just what happened to Alderaan is the ultimate proof that no one else could ever play Han. Harrison is intense, funny and delivers the performance that would send him to superstardom and us to theaters everywhere. And if you think that any decent actor could’ve played the well-written and fully-realized role, then look no further than Kurt Russell’s try at Han. Kurt Russell is always great, but he’s no Han.
