The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
MOVIE MOJO Billy Dee Williams thrilled to make long-awaited return
Veteran actor says it wasn’t difficult to get back into character.
It was a long time ago that Billy Dee Williams last stepped foot in a galaxy far, far away.
The iconic actor, who first charmed “Star Wars” fans as the smooth-talking, cape-wearing smuggler Lando Calrissian in 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back,” hadn’t appeared as the character since the franchise’s third movie, “Return of the Jedi,” in 1983.
That all changed when Williams received a call from director J.J. Abrams asking him to reprise the classic role in the upcoming “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”
“I know the fans for years were looking forward to Lando coming back and I just thought if it ever happened, I certainly would love to participate,” Williams told the Daily News recently. “And it happened. But I didn’t really expect it to happen.”
Williams, 82, becomes the last of the original “Star Wars” heroes to come back in recent films, following the returns of Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia) and Harrison Ford (Han Solo).
He hasn’t divulged much about what to expect this time around from Lando, who famously turned Han and Leia over to Darth
Vader out of desperation in his first movie before ultimately helping them, along with Luke, defeat the Evil Empire.
Williams says he enjoyed getting to play Lando “at this juncture in his life” in the new film, which hits theaters today.
“I think there’s a kind of depth probably that you didn’t see in the early movies,” Williams said of the character.
In addition to emerging as a fan favorite in the 1980s, Lando became a major figure in the popculture zeitgeist as the first black “Star Wars” protagonist.
He helped pave the way for a current trilogy that features a female action hero in Daisy Ridley, as well as John Boyega, who has Nigerian heritage, and Oscar Isaac, who was born in Guatemala, in leading roles.
“It’s nice that people are talking about life as it really exists, with all of the diversity,” Williams said. “It seems proper and seems a good thing to do.”
Working with Williams on “The Rise of Skywalker” was a treat for Abrams, who makes a “Star Wars” return of his own after directing this trilogy’s first movie, “The Force Awakens” (2015), but not the second, “The Last Jedi” (2017).
“Billy Dee is as sweet as they come, as interesting, as interested, as fascinating,” Abrams told The News. “His life experience is just incredible. Wonderful guy. We’re texting all the time. He’s like a dear friend. I love the guy.”
The new film serves as not only the third chapter in the latest trilogy, but also as the ninth and final episode in the epic Skywalker Saga, which kicked off in 1977 with the original “Star Wars” and includes the interweaving stories of more than four decades of movies.
Thirty-six years after he last portrayed Lando, Williams says it wasn’t difficult to get back into character.
“I played the character. I created the character,” Williams said. “I guess that makes it easy for me to get back into it.”