Any franchise can change an actor’s career entirely, especially a behemoth like Star Wars. Jack Reynor, who was being eyed for roles in both The Force Awakens and Han Solo, was afraid of messing up the franchise’s legacy.
“That Han Solo movie is going to be really tough. I think the guy who is doing it is a really good actor, but, for myself, I was afraid of it. I kept thinking: if you f**k this up you’ll ruin people’s childhoods. If it doesn’t turn out great, you won’t be forgiven. That’s a lot of responsibility. And even if it goes great, you’ll do it, people will know you only from that and that defines your career. That would be very difficult. For me, working on original material is very important.”
Alden Ehrenreich, who will now play Han Solo, Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, and Woody Harrelson do certainly have a tremendous weight on their shoulder’s, but fear wouldn’t have stopped me from the role. Even if some of the actor’s in the prequel received hate, the experience of being in Star Wars is probably worth it.
Reynor made his Hollywood break with Transformers: Age of Extinction, a franchise that doesn’t have nearly the same weight to it. And so it seems Reynor won’t be auditioning or accepting roles for any Star Wars films due to his fears. And the actor who could’ve been Han Solo, will never know what things could have been like.
Source: The Irish Times
