'Star Wars': Harrison Ford’s Backstory for Han Solo Explains So Much

The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly offers a first look at “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”

The new movie, starring Alden Ehrenreich as a young Han Solo, will give fans some insight into the smuggler's backstory. The studio is touting it as a Western crossed with film noir.

Harrison Ford played the original Han Solo in the “Star Wars” film trilogy that launched in 1977, as well as the 2015 hit “Force Awakens.” “Solo” director Ron Howard reached out to Ford to find out his thoughts on Han, and the actor had some interesting insight into the character.

Howard relayed the conversation to EW, saying, “He said that Han is always torn between that sense that he was, in a way, an orphan, and therefore both yearned for connection with people and struggled with it at the same time. I thought that was pretty interesting.”

Ford also opened up to Ehrenreich about how he originally developed the character with help from director George Lucas.

Lucasfilm president and “Solo” producer Kathleen Kennedy revealed, “What [Ford] did so beautifully for Alden was he talked a lot about what he remembered when he first read 'Star Wars,' and what George had done with Han. Who the character was and the conversations he had for so many years with George about how that character developed. He gave Alden that kind of insight which was invaluable. There were several times in the course of making the movie where Alden would actually recount some of the things that Harrison had pointed out. I think that was really, really helpful to him.”

Meanwhile, Alden remained tight-lipped on the topic. He would only reveal this piece of advice from Harrison, “Tell them I told you everything you needed to know, and that you can't tell anyone.”