Woody Harrelson ‘psyched’ to be in Han Solo Star Wars spin-off

Harrelson teased that his character will be on the light side of the Force
'Psyched': Woody Harrelson is keeping schtum about his character
Ken McKay/ITV/Rex
Alistair Foster12 May 2017
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Woody Harrelson says he is “psyched” to be shooting the new Star Wars movie at Pinewood Studios and is revelling in his time “living as an expat” in London.​

In an exclusive interview with the Standard, the star says he fell in love with the city while shooting his comedy Lost In London, and is now living here until he finishes his role in the upcoming Han Solo spin-off film.

Speaking from the set, he teased that his character will be on the light side of the Force, saying: “I am totally psyched to be making a Star Wars film. But the secrecy is on another level. What I can say he’s a good character, he is a mentor to Han and a criminal, but good at heart.” The film is expected to be out next May.

He added: “I feel practically like an expat living in London. It’s been great — I’ve had a great time and met a lot of cool people.”

In hyperdrive: Woody Harrelson on the Stars Wars set with co-director Christopher  Miller, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Alden Ehrenreich (Han Solo),  Emilia Clarke, Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca),  co-director Phil Lord and Donald Glover(Jonathan Olley/Lucasfilm via AP)

Harrelson, 55, made movie history in the capital in January when he became the first director to live-stream a film to cinemas. Lost In London was shot on the streets with one camera in just one take — a process that caused severe insomnia: “I wasn’t really dealing with the stress of it very well. The biggest problem was lack of sleep. I’d lie awake thinking about all the things that weren’t working.

“But I got good advice from Paul Thomas Anderson [director of There Will Be Blood] who was in the office above mine. He came down and could see I was in the shit. He said, ‘I know you’ve got a million things to do, but just start with one. Tackle that. And go to the next thing.’ There was a lot of insomnia, it was freaking me out.”

The film, now on at Picturehouse cinemas, followed the true events of a night out in London in 2002 when Harrelson was arrested for allegedly damaging a taxi — while claims about his private life hit the tabloids, putting his marriage on the rocks.

The movie helped him make things better with wife Laura: “She loved it. In a way, it’s a love letter to my wife. It’s a very vulnerable story. I can’t imagine why the hell I wanted to tell it.”

Woody Harrelson Film in London

1/6

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in