Harry Styles Was Almost Cast As Young Han Solo In The Upcoming ‘Star Wars’ Prequel
Alden Ehrenreich had to undergo an arduous casting process in order to land the role of Han Solo in the upcoming prequel for the legendary intergalactic smuggler. But while it was already common knowledge Ehrenreich usurped some of Hollywood’s most prestigious young talent in order to secure the part, it has now been revealed that the 27-year-old had to beat none other than Harry Styles in the audition battle, too.
Disney insiders have now revealed that that the former One Direction singer, who is currently embarking on his very own solo career, was actually “high up” on film executives’s’ lists to take on the role of Han Solo, which was originally brought to life so iconically by Harrison Ford.
A source for the studio told Metro that Harry Styles was “one of the early names in contentions when the studio looked at Han Solo.” This was despite the fact that Harry Styles didn’t have any actual acting experience at the time. However, the powers that be at Disney were able to look past this little oversight, because they recognized that “he had huge star potential and would give the solo project enormous publicity.”
The insider also admitted to Metro that Harry Styles sat down with Disney to discuss potentially taking on the role. But it soon became clear very early on in their discussions that Harry Styles’ plans for expanding his musical career would have made it virtually “impossible to lock him down for the job.”
The part eventually went to Alden Ehrenreich, who is currently shooting the still untitled Han Solo film in London alongside Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, and Donald Glover, who is taking on the role of Lando Calrissian. Information regarding the new Han Solo film is still very much at a premium, but directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller did allow for an image of the cast on-board the legendary Millennium Falcon to be uploaded to the world wide web back in February, which you can check out below.
Han Solo – Smuggler. Scoundrel. Hero. A new Star Wars Story begins. https://t.co/6mjWKQcwwk pic.twitter.com/dWJwccpY33
— Star Wars (@starwars) February 21, 2017
Of course, Harry Styles was able to find time in his rather hectic schedule to take on a part in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming World War 2 epic Dunkirk. However, Dunkirk won’t require any sequels. But if Harry had agreed to take on the role of Han Solo then he would also have had to return for the inevitable follow-ups that will be greenlit if the impending sci-fi action adventure is a hit, which it almost certainly will be.
Disney isn’t quite done with their attempts to turn Harry Styles into a movie-star just yet, though. That’s because the insider went on to add that the studio still want to invite Styles back “for other projects they’re considering.”
Styles opened up about his acting debut in Dunkirk earlier this month, admitting that he didn’t have a clue what he was doing in the film. However, rather than this being a negative, the humongous pop-star still insisted on BBC Radio 2’s Saturday Breakfast Show that he reveled in these conditions and called it “one of the best experiences” of his life.
“It was one of the best experiences of my life. Honestly it was amazing, it was a real challenge. I mean, I really loved being the new guy. I loved kind of being so far out of my comfort zone. It felt really good to kind of have no idea what I was doing for a little bit.”
We’ll get to see for ourselves if Harry Styles has what it takes to become a big-screen idol when Dunkirk is finally released on July 21, while the Han Solo prequel will arrive on May 25, 2018.
[Featured Images by Getty/Kevin Winter & Lucasfilm]
