There’s a new half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder in the galaxy and Harrison Ford… doesn’t hate it?
Most people expected Ford to have a bad feeling about the upcoming prequel, Solo: A Star Wars Story, as he was adamant that Han should have died 30 years ago in The Empire Strikes Back. Just when we thought Ford was done with Star Wars, he came back to surprise Han Solo newcomer, Alden Ehrenreich.
During an ET interview, while Ehrenreich was reminiscing about all of the things he wished he had said to Ford when he met him, Ford bursts in (jokingly) demanding that Ehrenreich get out of his light. Like any proper Star Wars fan, when the interviewer hinted that Ford was there, Ehrenreich’s response was, “you’re sh*tting me, oh my god!”
Of course, Ford cheekily remarked that he was just in the neighborhood looking at reverse mortgage options. Ford continued to speak highly of the “fantastic idea” that turned into a “great script” but, really honed into how impressed he was with Ehrenreich’s performance. “I just thought it was spectacular and I thought he was so smart about what he did and how he did it. I just couldn’t be happier,” Ford said. Whoa. That is some high praise and slightly uncharacteristic mushiness from Ford. Ehrenreich had a similar reaction to the praise as he responded with, “Wow! That’s pretty unbelievable.”
Ron Howard, Solo director, made the reunion happen, because he wanted Ehrenreich to hear for himself how much Ford loved his version of Han. “I have to say, I’ve known Harrison a long time. He can be great, he can be supportive. He’s never effusive, and he was so behind it and into it and loved what Alden did. So, I let Alden know that, but I would never even say that to the world, because you don’t speak for Harrison Ford,” Howard said.
With that level of impassioned support from the OG Han Solo, we’re all a little less scared to see what Solo has done with our favorite scruffy space scoundrel.
