Donald Glover is apparently pretty nervous about playing Lando Calrissian in the upcoming Han Solo Star Wars prequel film, and rightfully so. While he’s got his fans, he’s also got his detractors, and like most detractors on the internet, they can be pretty vocal about all the things they dislike.
The artist formerly known as Childish Gambino has been spending a lot of time around legends lately, which has probably been tremendously helpful as he continues his ascent to Hollywood’s A-list with the forthcoming live-action remake of Lion King, as well as season two of Atlanta airing in 2018.
So, who better to seek advice from than the man who originated Lando himself, Billy Dee Williams? While Williams has been glowing in his approval of Glover, he did have one nugget for the younger star, as explained by Glover himself in The Hollywood Reporter cover profile about him, online yesterday:
Once the formalities were out of the way, (Glover) threw himself feverishly into a dissection of Calrissian and his possible virtues: “I was like, ‘I’ve always felt like this character could do this, and he represents this, and I kind of feel like he comes from here, and it’s very obvious he has a lot of taste, so maybe he grew up seeing that from afar? Because I’m like that. Maybe he saw it from other planets and was like, ‘I want to be that.’ ” Glover is full-on laughing now as he re-enacts the exchange. “He just let me ramble on and on, and then finally I was like, ‘So, what do you think?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, I don’t know about all that. Just be charming.’”
Wise words from a decent man, indeed. If there was ever one word that best described Williams’ performance as Lando all those years ago, yes, he was definitely charming.
