# First pick for Hans Solo? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 20, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-pick-for-hans-solo/169874 "2003-04-20T17:21:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CelraySoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@CelraySoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelraySoda)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-pick-for-hans-solo/169874/1 "2003-04-20T17:21:56Z")
Who was the first pick before they casted Harrison Ford as Hans Solo? -M ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-pick-for-hans-solo/169874/2 "2003-04-20T17:52:20Z")
You are possibly thinking about Indiana Jones instead - Tom Selleck was the first choice, and Harrison Ford was approached after Selleck could not work around contractual obligations for “Magnum, PI”. As far as I know, Lucas brought in Ford to his original readings when casting “Star Wars” almost by accident - Harrison Ford was a struggling actor doing carpentry work on the side at that time, and Lucas was doing readings with trios of actors trying out for Luke, Leia and Han. He included Ford in one of the groups because he just happened to be around carpentering, and Lucas needed to round out a trio for tryouts. He decided he liked Ford for the part. ---
**Author:** ![NoGoodNamesLeft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8797f3/32.png) [@NoGoodNamesLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoGoodNamesLeft)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-pick-for-hans-solo/169874/3 "2003-04-20T17:53:36Z")
HAN SOLO…Not “Hans”. ---
**Author:** ![CelraySoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@CelraySoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelraySoda)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-pick-for-hans-solo/169874/4 "2003-04-20T17:56:24Z")
I’m pretty sure it was for Star Wars and the character HAN Solo. I recall it being someone like Nick Nolte, but i’m really not sure. -M ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-pick-for-hans-solo/169874/5 "2003-04-20T18:26:52Z")
According to the IMDb [trivia page](http://us.imdb.com/Trivia?0076759) for Star Wars, Kurt Russell, Nick Nolte, and Christopher Walken were all considered for the role before Lucas went with Ford. ---
**Author:** ![Madame\_Zelda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Madame\_Zelda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madame_Zelda)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-pick-for-hans-solo/169874/6 "2003-04-20T18:37:48Z")
Well, IMDb can’t be too overly bright, since they say those 3 were considered for the part of HANS Solo - yep, that’s what it says, all right. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-pick-for-hans-solo/169874/7 "2003-04-20T18:55:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hihorse \* > \*\*Well, IMDb can’t be too overly bright, since they say those 3 were considered for the part of HANS Solo - yep, that’s what it says, all right. \*\* Hah! You’re right, I didn’t even notice that. Though IMDb’s information is supplied by the public, the info is supposedly verified by their staff. And for a film as big as Star Wars, with as many fans out there teeming with knowledge of every minute aspect of the film, I’m sure if this casting info was a mistake, it would’ve been corrected by now. I’d put the exta ‘s’ in Han as either a typo or dumb person who originally submitted the piece of trivia, but I’d bet the info itself is correct. It’s pretty much common knowledge, at least, that Walken was once considered for the part. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-pick-for-hans-solo/169874/8 "2003-04-20T19:16:34Z")
I’d heard the Nick Nolte one before as well. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-pick-for-hans-solo/169874/9 "2003-04-20T20:19:38Z")
Yeah, Christopher Walken was once considered for Han Solo… I also heard that Barbara Streisand was tested for Princess Leia, and Richard Dreyfuss for C3P0… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-pick-for-hans-solo/169874/10 "2003-04-20T21:11:58Z")
Hans Solo was of course one of the main characters in the classic German film _Sternkriege_. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-pick-for-hans-solo/169874/11 "2003-04-20T21:16:08Z")
Nope, Hans Solo was Napoleon Solo’s younger brother. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-pick-for-hans-solo/169874/12 "2003-04-20T22:32:39Z")
I have always heard that Lucas had several groups of people. That is , he had a set of Han, Luke and Leia and he had a few of these groups in the running. We know who got the jobs in the end but I have never heard GL mention anyone who was in the other groups. ---
**Author:** ![Payton\_s\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@Payton\_s\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payton_s_Servant)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-pick-for-hans-solo/169874/13 "2003-04-20T23:29:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yabob \* > \*\*As far as I know, Lucas brought in Ford to his original readings when casting “Star Wars” almost by accident - Harrison Ford was a struggling actor doing carpentry work on the side at that time, and Lucas was doing readings with trios of actors trying out for Luke, Leia and Han. He included Ford in one of the groups because he just happened to be around carpentering, and Lucas needed to round out a trio for tryouts. He decided he liked Ford for the part. \*\* Ford and Lucas had already worked together on a little film called **American Graffiti** , so he was a known quantity to Lucas. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-pick-for-hans-solo/169874/14 "2003-04-20T23:42:56Z")
I heard it was Sissy Spacek and Jodie Foster as possible Princess Leias - she was originally envisioned as being in her young teens. Maybe why Lucas had Carrie Fisher tape her breasts down under her robe. ---
**Author:** ![joshmaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a587f6/32.png) [@joshmaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joshmaker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-pick-for-hans-solo/169874/15 "2003-04-20T23:55:35Z")
Here is what I remember from interviews I have seen etc: Harrison Ford, had given up on acting and was working as a carpenter. His friend George Lucas (who he had worked for in a small part in American Graffiti) asked him to act opposite of actors trying out for the various roles. Lucas ended up liking his performance so much better than the actors trying out for the part of Han Solo that Ford ended up with the job. A quick google search finds this account of what happened: [http://www.starwars.com/bio/harrisonford.html](http://www.starwars.com/bio/harrisonford.html)