Han Solo is one of the most popular and iconic characters in movie history, so who wouldn't want to read some trivia about him and some facts about Harrison Ford who plays him? But let's get this out of the way:
HAN SHOT FIRST.
And that's all we'll say about that matter.
But there are plenty of things to cover about one of the greatest Space Pirates ever. Let's get to it.
- Harrison Ford was famously never intended to be Han Solo (we'll get to that later in our list). Ford was just hanging around after American Graffiti and was helping other actors read their lines as Lucas was in the casting process. Eventually, Lucas wised up and realized Ford already had the part down cold.
- In The Empire Strikes Back, Ford ad-libbed his line “I know” in response to Leia's “I love you.” It's become one of cinema's most famous quotes. People say it to each other all the time, even four decades later.
- Ford's ex-wife, Melissa Mathison, wrote the script for the Spielberg movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
- Carrie Fisher had to stand on a box for most of her scenes with Ford in the original Star Wars movies because she is a foot shorter than him. This was done so the actors would look better in the frame shot together.
- Awesome Han Solo quote time: “Great, kid, now don't get cocky.“
- In the very short-lived T.V. show Firefly, a model version of Han Solo frozen in carbonite can be seen in many places – the props department would move it around as a running gag. Presumably, this was kind of like how Superman appeared in every episode of Seinfeld.
- Harrison is the only actor to have appeared in films directed by all three of these directors: Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Francis Ford Coppola.
Image Courtesy of Lucasfilm - Han Solo grabs Princess Leia’s breasts during the Battle of Endor.
- The award Han and Luke received at the end of Star Wars is called the Alderaanian Medal of Freedom. This is strange as they are on the planet Yavin because they can't be on Alderaan. This makes people wonder where they got enough official medals from.
- Han came into ownership of the Millennium Falcon by beating Lando Calrissian in a game of Sabac. That's how they knew each other before the audience first sees them greet each other in The Empire Strikes Back. The Han Solo solo movie shows how they actually met.
- Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher apparently had an affair during the filming of A New Hope. Harrison was married at the time.
- The novel The Hutt Gambit explains how Han Solo first met Chewbacca. When Han was a lieutenant in the Imperial Navy, he found Chewie unconscious aboard a slave ship. Han's commanding officer ordered him to skin the Wookie, but Han refused and rescued the helpless hairy prisoner.
- Time for another awesome Han Solo quote: “Never tell me the odds!”
- In the original Star Wars trilogy, Han Solo is the only non-Jedi to wield a lightsaber sword. Refer to the scene during The Empire Strikes Back when Han slices open a Taun-taun to place Luke inside. This allows us to share this snarky quote Han delivered at the time: “…and I thought they smelled bad on the outside!”
- George Lucas had originally envisioned Han Solo to be a huge green-skinned monster with no nose or gills. Not happy with this green dude, Lucas changed the idea of Han Solo to a black human. He auditioned several black actors and Billy Dee Williams shuffled through for an audition. Ultimately Han Solo was cast as a white Harrison Ford, but not before James Caan, Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Burt Reynolds had all turned down the part. That green guy we mentioned? We guess he became Greedo.
This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
Paul Rose Jr is the Editor in Chief of Wealth of Geeks & manages the Associated Press program for The Insiders network. He has worked as TV News Producer, Forensic Analyst, and Train Conductor, among many other things. He’s the former TV Editor for InfuzeMag and owns more books, DVDs, and comics than most people have seen in their lifetimes. When he’s not writing or editing on Wealth of Geeks, he exercises his creative muscle writing screenplays and acting in film and television in Los Angeles, CA.