Star Wars screenwriter Kasdan on past, present, future of Han Solo
LOS ANGELES – Lawrence Kasdan isn’t afraid to play favourites. For him, Han Solo is it.
He didn’t create the scruffy-looking smuggler. He hadn’t even heard the lore that George Lucas partially based Han on Francis Ford Coppola. But it was Kasdan who helped fully realize Star Wars favourite scoundrel when he stepped in to write The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
“He’s reckless, he’s feckless,” Kasdan said in a recent interview. “He’s cynical. He’s tough. He’s pragmatic. He’s not that smart. I like that. He’s the most fun.”
In fact, it was the character of Han that made him consider coming back to the world of Star Wars in the first place. When Kathleen Kennedy called him up in 2012 to tell him that she was taking over Lucasfilm and that they were planning to make more Star Wars films, Kasdan took the meeting of course, but wasn’t certain he wanted to rejoin the franchise.
Yet for Kasdan, 66, a four-time Oscar nominee who wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark, and wrote and directed The Big Chill, The Accidental Tourist and Grand Canyon, the shadow of Star Wars loomed large.
“It’s always been playing in the background of my life. The movies were so big,” he said. “They never go away. ”
At Skywalker Ranch, Kennedy, Kasdan and George Lucas talked about plans for a new trilogy and a number of spin-offs, including one about a young Han Solo.
“I said, ‘Oh, that’s interesting,”’ Kasdan recalled. So he signed on to write the young Han anthology movie with his 36-year-old son, Jon Kasdan, and agreed to consult on The Force Awakens, which Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) was writing.
Kasdan had been consulting for nine months on The Force Awakens – coming in once or twice a week while also writing the Han movie – when they asked him to take over the script with director J.J. Abrams.
“There were issues that were coming up and there was enormous pressure to get the thing done,” recalled Kasdan. “People were being hired. Stages were being rented...when everyone decided that J.J. and I would write the script, there was no big adjustment. We were already really getting along. Then, we just started again.”
While the specifics of what exactly The Force Awakens, out Friday, is about are being treated like state secrets, fans have been able to glean a few things from the trailers and promos. In the over 30 years since the events of Return of the Jedi Han Solo, for one, has changed his tune about the force, which he once dismissed as a hokey religion.
“(Han is) older and wiser. But wiser is only worth so much,” Kasdan teased. “We don’t get any smarter. What we call wisdom is really just the accumulation of experiences. But when you do have a lot of experience, it gives you perspective. You think about your life in terms of, do you want to continue to do the things you’ve always done or do you want to break it up somehow? ... Are you stuck now or is there still a possibility of change? And I think those are the issues, not just for Han, but for everybody.”
If that sounds like a lot of philosophizing and soul-searching, don’t worry, Kasdan promises Han is still funny, too.
“Harrison is sort of beyond belief in this movie,” Kasdan said. “He’s absolute gold. It’s like Spencer Tracy.”
Ford’s legacy and iconic embodiment of Han is why Kasdan understands keenly how difficult it will be to find an actor to play a young Han. Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (21 Jump Street) have seen thousands of actors as they try to fill those twentysomething shoes.
“Harrison is one of a kind. He’s a one-off,” Kasdan said. “There is going to be a lot of pressure on anyone who tries to be that (younger) character ... He’s got to be a believable antecedent.”
But beyond finding that perfect person, Kasdan has just been enjoying the chance to work with his son on the script – even if it’s been trying at times.
“Collaborating with anyone is challenging. But when it’s your son, now there’s this additional thing of like, ‘Dad, do you know what you’re talking about?”’ Kasdan laughed. “But Star Wars is all about that – fathers and sons.”
After the Han film comes out in 2018, Kasdan said he will really be leaving Star Wars behind this time.
“That’s enough,” he said with Han Solo definitiveness. “I’m done.” LOS ANGELES (AP) — If the teasers, trailers and hints haven’t sated your appetite for all things Star Wars in advance of the latest entry in the franchise, then it’s time to tap into the force of fan films. These sometimes hilarious, sometimes awe-inspiring and always off-canon creations are showcases for the creativity of Star Wars fanatics. You’ve got to give them credit for piecing together trailer hints into logical themes, pulling off low-budget special effects, and acting in generally cheesy fashion. And fear not – the Disney empire won’t be striking back. The company encourages these mash-ups, having revived the annual Star Wars Fan Film Awards in 2014 two years after buying Lucasfilm. 1. A musical tribute to Star Wars fans set to Elton John’s Rocket Man: 2. A low-budget remake of The Force Awakens trailer: 3. A special-effects laden duel, complete with Kylo Ren’s wicked lightsaber crossguard: 4. The crew of the U.S. aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower remade the teaser trailer, complete with real-life fighter pilots: 5. A clever stitching together of various teasers and trailers to date, including bits from international trailers and voice-overs from previous films: 6. A lightsaber fight that gets extra points for the choreography (note the behind the back parry) and alternate endings: 7. Lightsaber boomerangs make this fan film scream “From Down Unda”: 8. An officially sanctioned fan film that riffs on characters from the prequel trilogy and The Clone Wars animated series: 9. A Boba Fett spin-off teaser premised on his escape from the sarlacc that swallowed him in Return of the Jedi: 10. Yet another lightsaber battle – this time taken to deliberately ridiculous extremes. Watch for the Minecraft reference: