FLYING SOLO

As the latest instalment of the Star Wars saga takes off, Michele Manelis talks to man-of-the-moment Donald Glover

DONALD GLOVER is having cultural moment, and his timing couldn’t be better. Currently the most-mentioned celebrity across all social media platforms, Glover, in tandem with his musical alter-ego, Childish Gambino, is certainly using his platform to enormous social effect.

His searing musical indictment of his country’s parlous state, This is America, is not only No 1 in the charts but being heralded as a watershed moment in entertainment. And if it doesn’t seem possible that this incredibly appealing actor-comedian-rapper-showrunnerproducer could raise his profile any higher, just wait. Because he’s also starring in the second-highest-grossing film franchise of all time (its takings just shy of US$10 billion currently) as Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Timing indeed.

“I knew the Star Wars stories better than the Bible,” Glover recalls. “They were very important to me growing up. My father imprinted it on me. He gave me a Lando and a Darth Vader toy. I remember biting the light saber toy off and trying to give it to Lando.” He laughs. “It was pretty pivotal.”

No prizes for guessing who Glover called first on hearing his casting news. “I immediately called my dad.” He leans forward. “I wasn’t allowed to tell anybody. They were like, ‘Do not tell anybody. It’s top secret!’ And I was like, ‘Absolutely.’ Then I immediately called my dad.” He laughs. “And now it’s come full circle to see my son play with me [the new Lando doll in his likeness].”

Glover was raised far from Hollywood, in Georgia, as a Jehovah’s Witness. His mother is a former daycare provider and his father, Donald Glover Sr, a retired postal worker. As for Glover’s own personal life, the 34-yearold is famously private. He has two sons: Legend, 18 months, and a fourmonth-old sibling, whose name has not been revealed. Glover’s longtime partner, and mother of his two children, is known simply as “Michelle”.

His movie star career also includes starring roles in Magic Mike XXL, and The Martian, both in 2015, and last year’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. He is also showrunner and star of the multiaward winning TV comedy, Atlanta, now in its second season. He says, “You don’t want that sophomoric slump where you’re trying to show people that Season One wasn’t a mistake. So it’s hard because people expect more. It’s easy to come out the gate when people don’t have any expectations.”

Speaking of expectations, they don’t get much higher for audiences than the next

Star Wars instalment. That burden though rests heaviest on the shoulders of Alden Ehrenreich, 28, who plays Han Solo. “It’s a lot of pressure, but you have to accept that at some point, it’s out of your control. You just hope people love it,” says Ehrenreich, who recently starred in Rules Don’t Apply, and Hail, Caesar!, both in 2016. He also starred opposite Alice Englert in Beautiful Creatures, in 2013.

Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke, 31, plays Qi’ra, a femme fatale, friend and romantic interest of Han Solo. She says, “I think this is one of the darker Star Wars movies. There’s a lot more intrigue and a lot more mystery. We also learn more about Han, who’s really an outlaw, a rogue, but a loveable one,” she says.

“As far as Game of Thrones and now Star Wars, I seem to play characters who are the type of women who don’t take no for an answer,” she laughs. “They are a lot scrappier than I am.” Glover finds similarities between himself and Lando, a former smuggler who becomes part of the Rebel Alliance.

The role was played by Billy Dee Williams in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

“Well, I definitely consider myself sort of a charmer,” he smiles. Up until this film, the relationship between Lando and Han has been somewhat adversarial, but in Solo, they join forces against The Empire.

“Han Solo is kind of like a cowboy, who is like, ‘It’s my way or the highway.’ He’s brash, which is cool and sexy in one way, but Lando knows you can get a lot more flies with honey. It was really cool to play a character considered smooth and sexy.” He smiles. “So, I was really happy to do it.”

With a career in which he keeps several plates spinning, are any of them in danger of crashing? “I’m a really good multi-tasker,” he says. “But I get bored with everything eventually. I think that’s good. A death of passion allows for something else to happen, but right now I’m not bored with anything. “Whether I’m writing music or working on the show, one influences the other and I do things as they come to me organically.”

He previously released three moderately successful albums as Childish Gambino, but the May 6 release of This is America took him to a different level. It became an instant phenomenon, debuting at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. When asked what the song means to him, he says, “I am sorry, I can’t divulge what it means to me but I will say that I think [despite the title] it’s a global thing.

“We are all connected and I think many countries are going through the same thing at the exact same time. “But now, this is the first time you can make a statement and say, ‘This is America,’ and everybody says, ‘Yeah! You are talking about us too.’ That is important.” He pauses.

“So I can’t explain what the video or the song means but I love hearing what other people have to say.”

He smiles. “Because to me, I think that is what it [America] is.”