Star Warshas been the center of a lot of love and hate over the years. Whether it be for the quality of the films, the creative decisions of the overall franchise, or particular casting decisions, there has always been someone to complain about any and everything presented in the galaxy far, far away. These kinds of complaints are most commonly directed at any of the new films that have been produced by Lucasfilm since its purchase by Disney in 2012. While the sequel trilogy of episodesVII,VIIIandIXheavily divided fans, they weren’t the only newStar Warsfilms released in the 2010s. There were also two spin-off films billed under the “AStar WarsStory” branding. These films,Rogue OneandSolo, were produced through vastly different perspectives of theStar Warsgalaxy and they achieved wildly different results. WhileRogue Onetold an entirely new story based around brand-new characters,Solomade the controversial decision to go back and tell an origin story for the fan-favorite character Han Solo. One of the most talked about aspects of this creative decision was the decision to re-cast Harrison Ford in the role.
The decision to tell a new story about Solo with a different actor in the role is one that immediately set the internet ablaze, with some defending the choice and others staunchly opposed to it. The actor that was asked to step into those impossible-to-fill shoes wasAlden Ehrenreich, who was most well-known for his roles inBeautiful Creaturesand the Coen Brothers’Hail, Caesar!. After the release ofSolo, which generally failed to gain any of the success it was intended to, much of the blame for the prequel film’s failure was unjustly placed on Ehrenreich’s shoulders. Even Lucasfilm’s President Kathleen Kennedy partiallyblamesSolo’s failure on the decision to recast the character. TheSoloprequel has a lot of issues, but Ehrenreich’s performance in the titular role is just not one of them. Here’s how Ehrenreich turned in a great performance in the role and why it might be better than you remember.
Following Harrison Ford
Ford is one of the biggest movie stars in the history of Hollywood. Not only did he play Solo in the originalStar Warstrilogy, but that role also launched him into a lengthy and legendary career that spans fromIndiana JonestoBlade Runner,The Fugitive,and, most recently,theYellowstonespin-off1923. Everybody knows who Ford is because of the role of Han Solo. He brought an immense amount of charisma and charm to the role and made the character synonymous with himself. For that reason, there were a lot of people that believed nobody could ever replace Ford in the role. Solo, and specifically Ford’s take on the role, is one of the most iconic characters in modern pop culture, and stepping into a role like that is no walk in the park.
When Ehrenreich was announced to be stepping into the character forSolo, many people found the idea to be preposterous, even though Ford himself was in full support of the decision. Those kinds of expectations are almost impossible to overcome. From the moment he was cast, Ehrenreich was fighting an uphill battle with fans of the series who refused to consider anybody else for the part. No matter how great Ehrenreich’s performance was, there was always going to be a significant portion ofpeople that would reject it. It’s a shame, because Ehrenreich’s take on the character brought a lot of new depth to the role than it had before. He genuinely did the impossible and was able to take the character and do something new with him while still keeping the spirit that Ford injected alive. Following Ford is no easy task, but it’s one that Ehrenreich proved he was more than capable of doing.
Related:Marvel’s Ironheart Series Recruits Solo Star Alden Ehrenreich
Bringing His Own Personality
By stepping into a role like this, there was a lot of pressure on Ehrenreich’s shoulders. There were two routes that he could’ve taken. The first, and easier of the two, would have been to simply do an impression of Ford the entire time. Ehrenreich could have just mimicked Ford’s manner of speaking and overall demeanor in an attempt to recapture a similar persona for the character. This approach would have likely pleased some viewers who were just looking for an actor they could squint at and imagine was Ford, but it would have been a disservice to Ford, Ehrenreich, and the character of Solo.These kinds of performancesare often nothing more than a shadow of what has come before, and they ultimately feel more like the work of an amateur rather than a truly talented performer. Ehrenreich, instead, chose to take the riskier and more difficult route of trying to embody the character’s core.
Ehrenreich didn’t justtry to imitate Ford inSolo. Instead, he brought his own persona and energy to the character. He took the character as he was on the page, and translated him from there. The character as he was meant to be inSolowas the starting point for Ehrenreich, not the decisions Ford had made with the role previously. The result of this decision was a performance that was so much more than a cardboard cutout of Ford’s Solo. Ehrenreich cut to the spirit of Solo as a character. The young actor was smart enough to really understand that he was hired to play Han Solo; he wasn’t hired to play Harrison Ford. By recognizing this, Ehrenreich was given so much more freedom as a performer. He was able to make the character his own, while still maintaining the soul of the character. He did this by mixing what had come before with his own individual sense of charm that differentiates him from Ford.
Related:Harrison Ford’s Best Dramatic Performances, Ranked
Evolving the Character
WhileStar Warsfans already had a very specific idea of who they believed the character of Solo was, Ehrenreich had one key benefit when stepping into the role forSolo: the film was a prequel. When the movie begins, Han is far from being the same character that fans meet inA New Hope. The opening sequences of that film take place13 years before the originalStar Wars, and by the timeSolo’s story wraps up, there is still a decade between those events and Han’s meeting with Luke and Obi-Wan on Tatooine. Ehrenreich didn’t have to step directly into the place where Ford had left the character and then continue from there. Instead, he was able to gradually build the character and set him on course for who he would be when he shows up inA New Hope.
This approach to the story allowed Ehrenreich a bit more leeway with the character. Yes, he still needed to have the core characteristics of the character down from scene one. But, much of the additional detail could be adjusted and played with to fit Ehrenreich’s own strengths and talents. Thankfully, Lucasfilm hired an actor that was able to come in and recognize that. Ehrenreich’s performance as Solo wasn’t just a cheap knock-off, but rather it was a genuinely compelling and fresh take on the character. He was able to push the boundaries of the character and expand Solo’s history and the fans’ perspectives of him. This was a younger character who was more trusting and carefree, but as the film continues, Ehrenreich slowly shifts his performance to be more of the rugged smuggler act that Ford embodies in the original trilogy. Ehrenreich takes the character and, through his performance, builds a developmental and personal arc into his story. He doesn’t try to replace Ford; he adds a new layer of depth to that iteration of the character.
