Childish Gambino Fulfills Childhood Dream With ‘Star Wars’ Role

Childish Gambino pays a visit to The Ellen Show to discuss his upcoming role in a new Star Wars movie, his work on FX's Atlanta, and more.

Last week, Gambino a.k.a. Donald Glover was cast to play a young Lando Calrissian in the upcoming Disney/LucasFilms movie about Han Solo, which will serve as a Star Wars prequel. The part was first played by Billy Dee Williams in the original franchise. Talking about the role, Gambino tells Ellen, "It's really crazy. I'm very honored. It's a very big deal. There's this thing going around on the Internet of me wearing a Star Wars t-shirt when I was in high school, so it's been a long thing."

Gambino is essentially fulfilling a childhood dream of his with this new role. The 33-year-old writer/rapper/actor/producer says that Lando was the first toy he ever had as a child. "That was the very first. I remember it like yesterday," he says. "My dad gave it to me. I had a Darth Vader one, too." Gambino adds that he called his parents after landing the role. His mother, a fan of Billy Dee Williams, simply said, "Don't mess it up!" You can watch the brief clip above via YouTube.

The movie is still unnamed. The film's directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, spoke highly of Glover when they made the announcement. They said, “We’re so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us. These are big shoes to fill, and an even bigger cape, and this one fits him perfectly, which will save us money on alterations. Also, we’d like to publicly apologize to Donald for ruining Comic-Con for him forever.”

Glover also tells Ellen about how he came up with the idea for Atlanta. He says, "I just wanted to make Twin Peaks with rappers, which was like, at the time, people were like, 'I don't know what that is.' I was like ... 'I get it,' because it's very particular. I just wanted to show how it was growing up in Atlanta. I always had these kind of weird feelings. I was like, 'How do I exude that?' We tried to get it. It feels good."

Atlanta airs Tuesday evenings at 10 p.m. EST on FX.

A Guide to Rappers on Television Right Now