With the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story upon us, we're about to get a much closer look at one of the most beloved characters in the entire franchise. That said, despite the familiarity of personalities like Han and Chewie, the film will bring a ton of new faces into the Star Wars franchise. One of the most notable of the bunch is Paul Bettany, who has apparently always wanted to be in a Star Wars movie. During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Bettany opened up and relayed a very melodramatic text that he sent Ron Howard in an attempt to get cast. Bettany said:
Have you ever spent long winter evenings wondering why you're not in the Star Wars franchise? I have.
You can almost imagine Paul Bettany saying those exact words in a dramatic reading, can't you? Bettany is clearly a huge fan of Star Wars, and he apparently "begged" Ron Howard for the role of Dryden Vos. Though he did eventually get it, we've never related to Paul Bettany in such a powerful way; we too have "spent long winter evenings wondering why" we're not in a Star Wars movie.
Though it seems like Paul Bettany may be joking in those remarks, he actually brought receipts. Check out an alleged screenshot of the text, below.
It obviously helped Paul Bettany's case that he had worked with Ron Howard before. The two have collaborated previously on several different titles, including The Da Vinci Code and A Beautiful Mind. Howard seems to have an appreciation for what Bettany does as an actor, so it probably didn't take too much convincing to get the role of Dryden Vos once he made it known that he wanted the part.
Of course, Paul Bettany is no stranger to the world of Disney-owned blockbuster franchises. He's one of the most seasoned members of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with a voicework resume that extends all the way back to the release of the original Iron Man back in 2015. From there, he joined the MCU as a full performance actor in 2015 with the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron when he shifted from J.A.R.V.I.S. to Vision. Nevertheless, despite that long history of working on superhero films, his remarks on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon make it clear that he definitely wanted to get in on the Star Wars franchise as well.
Solo: A Star Wars Story will open in theaters on May 25, so make sure to check it out when it finally premieres and keep an eye out for all of the other significant developments in the world of the Star Wars franchise. Looking ahead to the future, the Star Wars galaxy will continue its expansion when Star Wars: Episode IX opens next year on December 21.
