Four actors who missed Han Solo, Harrison Ford’s iconic role in ‘Star Wars’ | Films

Harrison Ford owes a lot to four colleagues. Not because of what they did, but because they didn’t do it, voluntarily or involuntarily, paving the way for him to become the biggest movie star of his time.

Suffice it to say that the guy, disillusioned with his profession, and who had given up everything in the early 1970s to become a carpenter – among his work with wood is the recording studio in the mansion of Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes, in Los Angeles -, no was the first option to play Han Solo, the space mercenary with a heart of butter (and Chewbacca’s lifelong friend) in the ‘Star Wars’ saga.

And that’s despite knowing George Lucas very well, the creator of the whole thing and director of the first film, ‘Episode IV: A New Hope’ (1977), as they had worked together a few years earlier on the nostalgic ‘American Grafitti – Summer Madness’ (1973), the film responsible for bringing Ford back to acting to climb the ladder of success in Hollywood.

Initially, the actor simply responded to a friend’s request from Lucas to help him in pre-production, participating in table readings with other candidates to join ‘Star Wars’. Detail: in these essays, Harrison Ford not only played Han Solo, but also other characters from the intergalactic saga – that is, suitors to play the mercenary ended up engaging in dialogues with those who would be immortalized by the role.

As much as George Lucas liked and trusted the outstanding artist, the truth is that there were many difficulties in putting a production like ‘Star Wars’, with a budget of US$11 million (at the time, stratospheric) on its feet. So, a star was needed to make the eyes of producers – and investors – shine.

The first obvious name to be approached was that of Al Pacino, who was on the crest of a wave due to his triumphant performances in the first two films of the ‘Godfather’ trilogy, released in 1972 and 1974, ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ (1975 ) and ‘Serpico’ (1973).

Detail: he was nominated for an Oscar for all four films.

However, the then young star admits that he did not understand anything about the plot, built on its own mythology, with concepts such as the Force and its Dark Side, in addition to the dichotomy of space war between the Empire and Rebels.

Jedis with lightsabers, reminiscent of Akira Kurosawa’s old samurai films, but in space? Everything seemed too trippy for an artist used to portraying characters with human dramas in earthly situations, such as the mafia, police work and a bank robbery where everything goes wrong.

“You know what it’s like when you get famous. It was all like, ‘Give it to Al. If they could, they would give me the role of Queen Elizabeth to play. They threw a script called ‘Star Wars’ into my hand. They offered me a lot of money. I I didn’t understand. And I read it. So I said I couldn’t accept it”, said Pacino, in an interview years later. “I gave Harrison Ford a career,” he mocked.

Among the other names that appeared, two could have had public appeal equivalent to Pacino, but completely different trajectories at that time.

Burt Reynolds, already a veteran of the film industry with critically and popularly successful films of those times such as ‘Bitter Nightmare’ (1972) and ‘Golpe Baixo’ (1974), was invited. He later admitted that he regretted not playing Han Solo in the comedy ‘Catch Me If You Can’ (1977).

Sylvester Stallone, on the other hand, was what could be classified as a newcomer of the moment, as he would be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor for ‘Rocky – A Wrestler’ (1976). But it’s worth remembering that while Lucas was holding the auditions to define his cast, everything was based on studio buzz, as the film about the no-nonsense boxer who gets the chance of a lifetime to fight the world champion had not been released. released in theaters yet.

“I auditioned for ‘Star Wars’ and I don’t think I liked it much, as – when I stood in front of George Lucas – he didn’t look at me once. Obviously, he was very shy. Well, I wasn’t the right type,’ but it all worked out for the best for everyone since I don’t look good in tight pants holding a laser gun,” said Stallone, decades later.

In a similar vein, let’s say, to Ford’s, there was Kurt Russell, but with an important difference.

He had been in show business since the age of 12, when he got a role in a western series ‘The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters’ (1963) and then had signed a contract with Disney, for whom he made a succession of modest but respectable films. commercial results.

And, yes, another reference to ‘Star Wars’, every fan knows, were the westerns. The interesting thing is that Russell’s test hit the web years ago and you can watch it and imagine him as Han Solo (check it out below).

In the end, George Lucas understood that the person who best fit the character was Harrison Ford. “When you watch the screen tests, with him playing the role, and the other actors who were up for it, there was just no doubt about who was the best. You know, so, I hired him for ‘Star Wars,'” he said. the filmmaker, some time later.

The rest was history. And the good news is that one day it will certainly become a film too.

After ‘Star Wars’, Harrison Ford lined up a series of other iconic characters in the 1980s, such as Indiana Jones, also with Lucas’ hand (but this is another and intricate behind-the-scenes saga to be told by us another time), and the relentless Deckard, from ‘Blade Runner’ (1982), as well as dense films like ‘The Witness’ (1985), which made him the biggest star of the 1980s and one of the greatest in the history of cinema .

Next, check out the trailers for the first three ‘Star Wars’ and Harrison Ford’s epic return as Han Solo in ‘The Force Awakens’, in 2015.