We knew that when Alden Ehrenreich was cast as the young Han Solo he beat out thousands of other candidates. While we're sure some of the competition was close, much of it was apparently...not. Conan O'Brien has put together a collection of some of the auditions that were probably not considered for long. Check it out.
The first thing that we have to point out about this clip from the Conan show is that, for a movie about a young Han Solo, almost nobody that was seen here really qualifies for the age requirements. Only 34-year-old Silicon Valley actor Thomas Middleditch was really in the age range of the people that were actually seen. Of course, the main joke here is showing actors who are old enough to play an adult Han Solo, auditioning to play him young. Jeff Goldblum seems to pick up on this, and actually comes the closest to nailing the performance because of it.
Our favorites actors from the above video are the out of left field ones. Melissa McCarthy and "Jodie Fucking Foster" audition for some reason, to potentially turn Han Solo female. Kumail Nanjiani also if him being asked to audition reveals some sort of spoiler; perhaps Han Solo was a different race as a young man, and was then transformed into a white guy later. That would be one hell of a spoiler to be sure.
In the end, the actual auditions have had to actually been this crazy. According to reports, over 2,500 people audition for the role in some capacity, and we know they saw actors as young as 16 and as old as 34. We're sure they also saw older actors as well as some fairly big names. Who the heck wouldn't at least take a shot at playing Han Solo? Even if you're fairly certain you don't stand a chance, it's one of the most iconic roles in film history. Even if some people don't realize Han Solo doesn't use a lightsaber.
Of course, we also know that nearly all the auditions for the part ended up actually being a waste of time. When Alden Ehrenreich was officially unveiled at Star Wars Celebration in London, it was announced that he had been the very first person to ever audition for the role. Had directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller known, they could have saved a lot of time and money by just wrapping things up at that point.
Was there a great audition here you would have liked to have seen? What are the chances they hire Bill Hader to do alien effects for the movie? Let us know what you think in the comments.
