Donald Glover stars as the space smuggler Lando Calrissian in "Solo: A Star Wars Story," which hit U.S. theaters on May 23. The actor revealed that it was a role he's had his heart set on from the very beginning and compared the franchise to the Bible.
"Solo: A Star Wars Story" is the second standalone film in the "Star Wars" franchise after Disney released "Rogue One" in 2016. The movie covers the beginnings of Han Solo, another space smuggler, which Harrison Ford played in the original movies that came out over 40 years ago.
Alden Ehrenreich steps up as Solo's younger version in "Solo: A Star Wars Story," while Glover plays the younger version of the character Billy Dee Williams originally played in "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980).
"It's almost like full circle like I'm getting to be part of like, The Bible or something" Glover said of his participation in the "Star Wars" franchise. "Like it feels like I get to be something original, but also something as old as time."
Glover also revealed that his father influenced his love for "Star Wars" as a young child. So, when he learned of Disney's plans to make an origin movie about the space smugglers, he told his agent he wanted to be in it.
"My dad imprinted me with this kind of Star Wars longing, because it does feel like the Bible to me in a lot of ways," Glover stated.
Glover is also making waves this season as his music alter ego Childish Gambino. He dropped his latest single, "This is America" this May, which immediately landed in the top rankings on the Billboard charts.
His music video sparked debates online because "This is America" depicted controversial scenes to highlight gun culture, racism and America's media obsession. Glover, as the rapper Childish Gambino, painted the sad truth about being an African American in his song and Relevant Magazine cited some of its prophetic undertones.
Meanwhile, the New Yorker regards Glover as the Golden Boy of the African American community because of his recent achievements in film, television and music.
"I feel like Jesus. I do feel chosen," the artist said. "My struggle is to use my humanity to create a classic work," he added. "But I don't know if humanity is worth it, or if we're going to make it."
