Look, Alden Ehrenreich began fighting an uphill battle the second he signed on to star as Han Solo in the film “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” Filling the shoes of Harrison Ford, as one of the most popular characters in pop culture history is a daunting task for any actor. So, when all the behind-the-scenes drama started to play out on the film’s set, you can’t help but feel for the actor.
In a recent interview with Esquire, Ehrenreich discusses the drama on set, which included the very public firing of directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who were then replaced by veteran Ron Howard. Not surprisingly, the reason for the duo’s dismissal was truly those dreaded creative differences.
“They had a different style than Ron in terms of the way we were working,” says Ehrenreich.
He goes into a little more detail about what might have led to Lord and Miller’s departure:
“From the first screen test on, we played around with it a lot. We tried a lot of different things, rethinking behind the scenes. That was yielding a different movie than the other factions wanted. I knew what I was doing, but in terms of what that adds up to, you’re so in the dark as an actor. You don’t know what it’s shaping up to be, how they’re editing it, so it’s kind of impossible without having seen those things to know what the difference [of opinion] was, or exactly what created those differences.”
Ehrenreich goes on to explain that, contrary to online speculation, he was never privy to the discussion about letting go of the directors, and never once approached the studio about having issues with Lord and Miller. Instead, he describes how he found out what happened, which came directly from Lord and Miller:
“They said, ‘We were let go,’ and that’s it. They had mentioned there were some disagreements before, but they didn’t get into it. They wished me the best with the rest of the movie. On a personal level, it felt emotional, for them to be going after we’d set out on that course together. Because I spent a lot of time with them, and we had a really good relationship—they also cast me. But I think at that point, they were kind of on board with [the decision], too. Like, ‘This is what’s happening.’ That’s not what they said to me, but that was the vibe I got.”
One thing he wants to clear up is the crew’s reaction to the news. There were reports floating around that the cast and crew broke out into applause when they found out that the duo was fired. “That’s bullshit,” Ehrenreich says. “For a crew to do that would mean they hated [Lord and Miller], which was not by any stretch the case.”
He goes on to say that Ron Howard was a great choice to replace Lord and Miller, and goes into exactly why, citing how Howard has a specific way of commanding a set. “He knew how to navigate a tricky situation, and almost from the first or second day everybody pretty quickly recharged and got excited again about the movie,” says the actor.
Ultimately, we won’t know how the directorial change affected the movie, or how Ehrenreich will do as Han until the film opens next month. For now, we just have to hope for the best.
“Solo: A Star Wars Story” opens May 25. This new international trailer has some new footage in it btw.