‘Star Wars’ Writer Lawrence Kasdan Explains How to Cast a Young Han Solo

Star Wars: The Force Awakens will kick off a new era of the franchise in just a few days (we’re so close!), but there’s already talk of Lucasfilm’s future plans, which include two more sequels and at least three spinoffs under the Star Wars Story banner. One of those films is Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s untitled Young Han Solo project, which has already met with thousands of actors to fill Harrison Ford’s iconic shoes — but according to Star Wars screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, their approach isn’t that simple.

The Young Han Solo film will be Kasdan’s final screenplay for the franchise, and as such, he shared some thoughts with Vulture on how to go about casting the classic character:

You want someone who isn’t going to be exactly like Harrison, you want someone who suggests him,” he said. “It’s like when you adapt a book, and I’ve adapted a couple: You don’t want to adapt it word for word, you want the essence to come through. With Harrison, though, it’s not easy to find someone with those kinds of qualities. He’s like Spencer Tracy, and what does a young Spencer Tracy look like?

Good question. There’s never going to be another Harrison Ford, though the actor who played the younger version of his character in Age of Adaline comes pretty damn close. Instead, the best approach is to find someone who has his Han Solo swagger — which is still no easy feat. We had some ideas over the summer, though for my money, Kingsman star Taron Egerton would be an excellent choice.

Last week we learned that Lucasfilm has already met with some 2,500 actors for the part, including Miles Teller, Dave Franco and Jurassic World star Nick Robinson, just to name a few. The film doesn’t begin shooting until January 2017, and hits theaters in May 2018. Perhaps another exciting new male actor will emerge between now and then.