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After Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired from directing Solo: A Star Wars Story, rumors suddenly started spreading about the script being unworkable and Disney already expecting the film to bomb. Vulture has been able to contact an actor from the set (who refuses to be named) to shed light on Lucasfilm firing the 21 Jumpstreet Directors.
Lord and Miller Getting Fired
According to the source, it was clear to the cast that Lord and Miller weren’t prepared to direct a high-budget project like Solo. They say:
“Phil and Chris are good directors, but they weren’t prepared for Star Wars… After the 25th take, the actors are looking at each other like, ‘This is getting weird.’ [Lord and Miller] seemed a bit out of control. They definitely felt the pressure; with one of these movies, there are so many people on top of you all the time. The first assistant director was really experienced and had to step in to help them direct a lot of scenes.”
A spokesperson for Lord and Miller has come to say that the accusations are ‘completely inaccurate,’ but has declined to cite specifics and has not made Lord and Miller available for interview.
Ron Howard was then hired to direct the project, and it looked like smooth sailing once he got onboard. The actor shares:
“When [Ron Howard] came on, he took control and you could feel it… He got respect immediately. He’s really confident. A really easy guy to work with.”
Alden Ehrenreich’s Acting Coach
Rumors had also went around that lead star Alden Ehrenreich ‘couldn’t act’ and needed an acting coach on set to help him. As it turns out, Ehrenreich was actually a fair actor, but he was just struggling to do his best to act like Harrison Ford. The source explains:
“Trying to mimic Harrison Ford is really tough… Lucasfilm wanted something very specific: copying someone else. Alden’s not a bad actor — just not good enough.”
Everything seemed to go smoothly once the acting coach came onboard, and it looks like Ehrenreich’s performance was ultimately improved:
“You could see his acting became more relaxed. He became more Harrison-like… The coach helped!”
Though some fans may argue that Ehrenreich still looks and sounds nothing like Ford in the teasers, I understand that there was no way that they could find a complete clone of Young Harrison Ford for the movie. Personally, I would prefer to watch Ehrenreich just make the character his own, very much like Ewan McGregor did with Obi-Wan Kenobi. I imagine Harrison Ford himself didn’t go through this much hassle just to play the part of Han Solo; must be his natural charisma.
Solo: A Star Wars Story hits theaters May 25.
