Report: Final Shortlist Of Actors To Play Young Han Solo Has Been Made

What is allegedly the final shortlist of actors in consideration to play young Han Solo in the upcoming standalone movie has been reported.

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The Hollywood Reporter revealed the three names on the alleged shortlist earlier today: Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!, Beautiful Creatures), Jack Reynor (Transformers: Age of Extinction), and Taron Egerton (Kingsman). THR’s sources say screen tests were conducted in London with Ehrenreich, Reynor, and Egerton. Their sources also say there could be more names on the shortlist that have been able to have been kept under the tight veil of secrecy surrounding Disney’s Star Wars projects.

Another shortlist was reported a few months ago that included Reynor’s name. Among the other contenders were Scott Eastwood (The Longest Ride; my personal pick to play young Han Solo), and Miles Teller (Fantastic Four). Ehrenreich and Egerton were announced to be in the running for the role three weeks later.

The details on this shortlist seem sketchy, so I’m not ready to commit to it as a definitive source for the star of the Han Solo standalone film. Personally, I don’t think any of these actors look enough like Han to take on the role; the closest match would be Taron Egerton, but he doesn’t quite mirror Harrison Ford’s rugged looks.

NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 09: Taron Egerton attends ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ New York Premiere at SVA Theater on February 9, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

Many fans’ choice actor is Anthony Ingruber, who played a younger version of Harrison Ford’s character in Age of Adaline. Ingruber was discovered on YouTube, where his shtick was impressions (among them, an impression of Ford). Though I haven’t seen Age of Adaline, my understanding from this clip from the film is that Ingruber’s part in it was small, and therefore not necessarily a viable test run for his acting skills. He’s also known more as an impersonator than an actor, and while young Han Solo should look like Han Solo, there has to be competent acting ability behind that to bring the character to life.

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And there will be more to young Han than simply looking and acting like Ford’s version of him in A New Hope. We know the standalone film will be set some years before the events of A New Hope take place, which means the Han we’ll meet then will be different from the one Ben Kenobi and Luke Skywalker go to for help in the Cantina. If the standalone story draws from the Expanded Universe, AKA Legends, Han may start out as an officer in the Imperial Academy. In the Legends, five years before the Battle of Yavin, Han was an officer stationed aboard a slaving ship when he defected to save the life of Chewbacca, then a slave trying to save the lives of his fellow enslaved Wookiees. We know that Han is going to be around or in his twenties in the stadnalone, so perhaps directors Christopher Miller and Phillip Lord, as well as writer Lawrence Kasdan, will mine Han’s non-canon past as an Imperial for the new canon.

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Keep checking Dork Side for updates on which actor will cinch the role of young Han Solo.