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It’s safe to say that Lucasfilm have done their due diligence in searching for the actor to take on the role of young Han Solo. 2,500 actors went up for the role, and after plenty of screen tests and shortlists Alden Ehrenreich has emerged as the latest frontrunner.
Dave Franco was one of the actors on the shortlists for a time, and while speaking to MTV he revealed details of the audition process.
“It’s like most other auditions. I went in one time for Jeanie McCarthy, who I’ve auditioned for a million times before, and we just had a really fun time together in the room. And then because of the nature of what it is, it just explodes everywhere. Everyone’s coming up and being like, ‘Dude what’s going on?’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t know, you know as much as me!’"
While Franco also admitted that he’s “not good with impressions”, he’s not sure that’s what Lucasfilm are looking for; “I think that’s the reason why it’s so hard to cast this role. Do they want someone to perfectly embody who Harrison Ford is, or do they want to go a completely different route? Do they want someone to look really similar to him? I don’t know, I think they’re struggling with that.”
Franco does a good job of articulating what a tricky challenge Lucasfilm have ahead of them in that there are many different directions you could go when casting a young Han Solo. The key will be to find someone who embodies the essence of the character rather than casting an actor who does a killer Han Solo impression.
Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the Han Solo standalone movie is scheduled to open on May 25, 2018.
Images: Lucasfilm/20th Century Fox
