Alden Ehrenreich (Han Solo) talks about the reception to Solo, how the media blows things out of proportion, and why he’s taking a break from acting.
Solo: A Star Wars Story had a famously tricky production. The set was reportedly tense. The original directors were subbed out for Ron Howard. And the film itself? It was meh. It was fine. Perfectly decent. A bit dull, a bit unnecessary, a bit all over the place, but on the whole sort of okay.
And that’s about how critics treated the movie when it debuted in 2018: sort of okay. The movie made nearly $400 million at the box office, which is good, but underwhelming for a tentpole Star Wars film that cost $275 million to make. For some fans, as well, “sort of okay” isn’t good enough, and they made their displeasure known, while people in the media mostly wrote the movie off as a dud.
This was tough to take for star Alden Ehrenreich, who’s taken a quasi break from the profession since Solo‘s release. Speaking to Total Film, Ehrenreich said the experience taught him a lot about the business and the “internet media version of things”:
"It didn’t do as well as other Star Wars movies, but it still did well for a movie. And so it was kind of this medium thing. But that’s not newsworthy. Even at high-level journalism, there’s an intense pressure, sometimes, it feels like, to catastrophise or celebrate… And I think that’s really f***ing dangerous, especially when it pertains to the stuff that really matters, like the state of the world.An article headline that says ‘things are complicated, and there are good sides and bad sides’ isn’t getting the emotional response. And I just think we really have to take a step back, and give a lot more thought to the way our emotions are being run by the stories we’re getting inundated with."
Ehrenreich, whose breakout role came in the Coen Brothers’ Hail, Caesar!, has appeared in just one other project — Peacock’s Brave New World — since his Star Wars adventure.
“Solo was a three-year experience, all said and done,” Ehrenreich said of why he slowed down. “I had been away from home pretty much for about three years. And not only on a personal side, but also as an actor and artist – the well’s dry. You haven’t had a whole lot of experience in real relationships with people.”
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