Donald Glover Reveals Lando Calrissian Action Figure Was His First Childhood Toy, Calls ‘Atlanta’ His ‘Twin Peaks with Rappers’
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Donald Glover stopped by Ellen for the first time to discuss his new Star Wars gig an in an episode that aired Wednesday (Oct. 26). On Friday, StarWars.com announced that the Atlanta star would be taking on the role of Lando Calrissian in Disney and Lucasfilm’s upcoming young Han Solo spinoff.
“It’s really crazy. I’m very honored,” Glover said about being cast as Cloud City’s suave administrator, a part first played by Billy Dee Williams in the original franchise. “It’s a very big deal.” The rapper-actor told DeGeneres he’d been a major fan of the franchise from childhood (and even rocked Star Wars t-shirts in high school).
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“That was the first toy I had — Lando. That was the very first. I remember it like yesterday,” he added. “My dad gave it to me. I had a Darth Vader one, too.”
Glover shared that he called his parents immediately after the news broke, and his mom, an avid fan of Williams, offered wise words of advice: “Don’t mess it up.”
The untitled Han Solo project, directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, is slated for a 2018 release.
Glover also talked about what inspired the hit sadcom about his hometown on which he plays striving rap manager Earn. “I just wanted to make ‘Twin Peaks’ with rappers,” he told DeGeneres of the idea behind Atlanta. “Which was like, at the time people were like, ‘I don’t know what that is.’ I was like… ‘I get it.’ Because it’s very particular. I just wanted to show how it was growing up in Atlanta. I always had these kind of weird feelings. I was like, ‘how do I exude that?’ We tried to get it. It feels good.”
Atlanta has already been renewed for a second 10-episode season.
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
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