Young Han Solo Auditions by Melissa McCarthy, 50 Cent, and More? 'Conan' Shares the Tapes
As officially announced at London’s Star Wars Celebration fan event earlier this month, Hail, Caesar!’s Alden Ehrenreich will assume the roguish role made famous by Harrison Ford when he headlines The Lego Movie directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s 2018 Han Solo prequel. But as Conan O’Brien revealed over the weekend, the audition competition to star as the Man Who Would Pilot the Millennium Falcon was fierce.
Related: Jack O’Connell Calls Young Han Solo Audition Process ‘Frustrating’
In an amusing 6-minute sketch from Conan (watch it above), we get a behind-the-scenes peek at a parade of Hollywood heavyweights trying out for the Young Han job, including Melissa McCarthy, Bill Hader, Will Arnett, Adam Sandler, Jodie Foster, and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. While the latter’s inability to properly wield a gun might be the single most surprising thing found in these clips, it’s only one of many funny moments, which are highlighted by Independence Day: Resurgence star Jeff Goldblum giving one of Solo’s trademark lines his own idiosyncratic touch.
Related: Dave Franco Reveals What It’s Like to Audition for Han Solo
Whether or not you know what a “parsec” is, this Conan clip follows in the honorable tradition of prior, similar Saturday Night Live bits, beginning with 1997’s batch of fake auditions (viewable here and here) for the original Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, and also including last November’s likeminded phony tryouts for J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens (available here and here).
The end result of Ehrenreich’s actual winning audition to play Young Han Solo is due in theaters on May 25, 2018.
Harrison Ford’s advice for the next Han Solo: ‘Don’t do it’:
