Harrison Ford has played a couple of memorable roles throughout his decades-long career in the entertainment industry. But the most iconic of these inarguably is his Star Wars franchise character Han Solo.

After starring in five Star Wars movies, the 77-year-old actor just revealed how he came to appear in 2019’s ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ despite the death of his character.

Surprise Appearance

Han Solo was the protagonist of the original Star Wars trilogy

For the uninformed, Han Solo died in the seventh Star Wars movie ‘The Force Awakens’ by the hands of his own son Kylo Ren, who’s portrayed by Adam Driver.

Thus, fans were surprised to see him once again in the ninth and final installation of the fantasy franchise.

His return involves a scene where he converses with Kylo Ren to convince him to turn away from the dark side.

According to Ford, the decision to bring back the fan-favorite was made by director J.J. Abrams himself, who asked the actor to come back.

At first, Ford was reluctant given the death of his character but was later on convinced by Abrams, who is a ‘very persuasive guy’, according to the actor.

Useful Addition

Kylo Ren ended up abandoning the dark side but perished after sacrificing himself for Rey

In the end, the ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ actor doesn’t seem to regret his decision. He describes his character’s return as a useful addition to the film’s story and helped in the development of Kylo Ren.

What more, he thought it great to be able to act with Driver once again remarking how his character died the last time they were both on screen.

Ford also responded to fan speculation saying his return meant that Han Solo was a ‘Force ghost’ saying that he doesn’t know what the term means.

Original Cast

Ford together with the original main cast of the Star Wars trilogy

Ford isn’t the only original Star Wars cast to make a return to the franchise’s sequel movies. It can be remembered that both Mark Hamill, who portrays Luke Skywalker, and the late Carrie Fisher, who portrayed Princess Leia, also resumed playing their characters.

Fisher, who died in 2016, even appeared at the end of Rogue One as a CGI image of a younger version of her character.

The actress’ own daughter Billie Lourd actually stood in for her mother for the scene. Meanwhile, Hamill returned as a Force ghost in the last Star Wars film after his character died in ‘The Last Jedi’.

Laurence Blake