Billy Dee Williams had lunch with his 'Star Wars' successor Donald Glover and told him to "be charming" when playing Lando Calrissian.
Billy Dee Williams gave advice to Donald Glover about playing Lando
The 86-year-old actor originated the role of the smooth-talking smuggler in 'The Empire Strikes Back' and reprised the role in follow-up film 'Return of the Jedi' while Glover took over the role in spin-off film 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' and will be back as Landro in a new movie based around the character.
Now Billy has revealed the pair sat down together over lunch to discuss Lando, telling Radio Times: "I had a nice little lunch with him. He’s a delightful young man. Extremely talented.
"But I don’t see him … I mean, when it comes to Lando Calrissian there’s only one Lando Calrissian. I created that character."
When asked what advice he gave to his young successor, Billy replied: "I told him to be charming – two words! That’s all I needed to tell him. That’s all I could think of."
He added of Donald: "He’s part of a whole new generation. He’ll create whatever he needs to create, to bring appeal to the character. He’s a very talented young lad and very imaginative. I mean, it’s not for me to say what he should do with the character at this stage.
"I took care of the 20th century, now he’s got to take care of the 21st."
When asked if he would ever make a return to the 'Star Wars' universe, Billy replied: "Pay me a lot of money and I’ll sell my soul."
After Landro returned in 2018's 'Solo', plans were announced for a new Disney Plus series based around the character.
However, last year it was revealed the series is now being developed as a film with Donald and his brother Stephen onboard to write the script but it was held up by the writers and actors strikes that brought Hollywood to a standstill.
Stephen Glover gave some details about the project during an appearance on the 'Pablo Torre Finds Out' podcast, saying: “It’s not even a show … the idea right now is to do a movie.
"Right now, because of the strike, it’s kind of like telephone, all of the information."
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