It’s Official, Alden Ehrenreich To Play Han Solo In Upcoming Star Wars Flick

Alden Ehrenreich, best known for his work in the Coen Brothers' Hail Caesar! and Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, has been confirmed as young Han Solo in the stand-alone anthology origin story. Ehrenreich revealed that the audition process lasted about six months but the coolest part was sitting in the cockpit of Solo's iconic Millennium Falcon starship with Chewbacca. "I've never screen-tested with a Wookiee. It was amazing."

He appeared during a filmmaker panel that starred Star Wars: Episode VIII writer/director Rian Johnson, as well as Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Ehrenreich's directors for the solo Han Solo movie that's expected out May 25, 2018.

Lord said they auditioned thousands of actors and "turned over every rock to find someone who has the charisma and magic swagger." However, Miller added, "It was a waste of money because the person to get the part was literally the first person to walk through the door."

In May, it was reported that Ehrenreich had signed onto the project, but neither Disney or Lucasfilm confirmed the casting news. Ehrenreich, 26, started his acting career with a small appearance on an episode of Supernatural in 2005. Since then, he's had multiple guest appearances on various television series, including CSI, and has worked on more than a dozen films.

Boyega also was on hand to talk about the upcoming Episode VIII (in theaters Dec. 15, 2017), in which the London-born actor reprises his role as Finn opposite Daisy Ridley's Rey and Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron. With Johnson on board, "the characters have been pushed in a new direction in a very, very cool way," Boyega said.

No plot details nor an official title were announced for Episode VIII, but Johnson shared that the film's showcase moment will be at next year's Celebration in Orlando (April 13-16, 2017). The event will also be celebrating the original Star Wars film's 40th anniversary.

screencrush.com