Lando Actor Billy Dee Williams Had One Concern About Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
You'd have to be the world's biggest grump to grouse over Billy Dee Williams returning to the role of Lando Calrissian for "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" 36 years after the character's last appearance in the series. First off, it's Billy Dee Williams. The man defined 1970s suave as Louis McKay opposite Diana Ross' Billie Holiday in "Lady Sings the Blues," and was denied a bevy of further star turns for infuriatingly obvious corporate/cultural reasons. Williams didn't disappear from the movies, but he should've been topping marquees for at least a couple of decades.
If only J.J. Abrams had given the smoothest rogue in the galaxy something more interesting to do than provide a bit of crucial info, catch us up on his tragic post-original trilogy doings, and help save the day at the end of what is by far the worst entry in the series' nine-film cycle.
So while I absolutely do not begrudge the then-81-year-old Williams taking his "Star Wars" curtain call, I also would not have groused had he turned Abrams' offer down. Evidently, Williams wasn't sure he possessed the fire necessary to do the beloved character justice one last time.
'Do I have that same hunger, excitement, that I had years earlier?'
In a 2019 chat with Esquire, Williams candidly revealed that he had doubts about his capacity to portray Lando as an octogenarian. According to the star, he had to ask himself one very tough question:
"Do I have that same hunger, excitement, that I had years earlier? This is a very difficult time for me, as far as age is concerned. When you get to be a certain age, whether you want to think about mortality or not, you think about it."
Though Williams' true passion is for painting, he didn't go off the grid like Lando. But aside from a well-received turn in the original Broadway run of August Wilson's "Fences" (where he took over the lead role from James Earl Jones), he mostly took minor parts in middle-of-the-road movies and TV shows. Again, this is fine! I love that he goofed around and had two seasons on the soap opera spin-off "General Hospital: Night Shift" as the magnificently monikered Toussaint DuBois. I just wonder why filmmakers of my generation who grew up admiring Williams never wrote a juicy lead role for the living legend.
Maybe they did, and maybe Williams turned them down so he could devote his creative energies to his artwork. I just wish the industry had done right by the man when he was in his prime.