It’s likely well-known to Starwoids the world over that multiple now-famous actors initially auditioned to play the role of Han Solo in George Lucas’ 1977 film “Star Wars.” The role ultimately ended up going to Harrison Ford, but Kurt Russell, Nick Nolte, and Christopher Walken also tried out. One can also find old video footage of Charles Martin Smith reading for Luke Skywalker, and Perry King reading for Han. While both King and Smith are talented actors, looking at their audition tapes reveals why neither of them appeared in “Star Wars.” They simply didn’t have a good handle on the material in that audition. Ford, meanwhile, brought a certain “it-factor” quality that made him imminently magnetic.
King, however, wasn’t left out of the “Star Wars” loop entirely. In 1981, writer Brian Daley and director John Madden adapted “Star Wars” into a 13-episode radio serial that broadcast on KUSC in Los Angeles. The audio version expanded on “Star Wars” considerably, adding semi-canonical supporting characters and plot points. The final running time of “Star Wars” was close to six and a half hours. The shows used a lot of the film’s original sound effects, but almost none of the same actors; only Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels returned to reprise their roles of Luke Skywalker and C-3PO, respectively.
Perry King, even after what he felt was a botched audition, was cast as Han Solo. Several years after being turned down, he got the job anyway. The “Star Wars” radio dramas may not be as popular as the movies, but King certainly still counts as one of the actors to have played the roguish smuggler Han Solo.
In a 2018 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, King recalls his audition, as well as the experience of returning to Han a few years later.
The second Han Solo
The “Star Wars” radio dramas, incidentally, boasted an impressive cast of their own. Darth Vader was played by Brock Peters, Princess Leia was played by Ann Sachs, and Bernard Behrens played Obi-Wan Kenobi. Adam Arkin, David Paymer, and David Alan Grier also appear in supporting roles. In the 1983 version of “The Empire Strikes Back,” John Lithgow played Yoda and Paul Hecht played the evil Emperor. The same crew wouldn’t make a radio version of “Return of the Jedi” until 1996. Ed Begley, Jr. played Boba Fett.
Perry King, meanwhile, played Han Solo in all three shows, lending his own unique pizazz to the part. King is great in the role, and many Starwoids may only reject his performance because he’s not Harison Ford.
King remembered auditioning for George Lucas and feeling a little discombobulated by the setup. He didn’t like the way Lucas had set up the cameras and he was extremely put off by the idea of making a feature film that was deliberately kid-friendly. This was the late 1970s, and kiddie entertainment wasn’t yet the commercial juggernaut it’s become in recent years. King confessed that he really didn’t want to be there. He said:
“We met over in Paramount somewhere in one of those offices, I walked in and was talking to [Lucas] … and this was before anyone knew anything about ‘Star Wars,’ of course. It was just a guy who was directing a film, and I said ‘Okay, tell me about this film. What’s this film about?’ And he said it’s a film for kids and I remember thinking, ‘Oh s*** — let me out of here!’ I was 25 or something. I don’t want to be in a film for kids.”
A film for kids
King also confessed that he didn’t really understand who this Han Solo guy was supposed to be. It was only an audition, but every actor should at least have an angle or an impression of the character they’re reading for. King didn’t have that angle … and he knew it. He seems to have known he botched his audition right away. King said:
“I just remember thinking, ‘No wonder I didn’t get the job.’ […] I was terrible! Just awful. Good God — I mean, he would’ve had to of been braindead to hire me … I didn’t have a clue. I was too young, too shallow, just was lost. I was just trying to make the words make sense and imagine I was really in that situation. As good as Harrison Ford was, I was equally bad on this tape.”
King was surprised when he got to call to play Han Solo on the radio. He remembered hearing from Lucas that “Star Wars” was too expensive; Lucas felt bad that kids were shelling out so much pocket money to see his movie, so he elected to make a free version that could be heard on the public airwaves. Hamill returned, but Ford was busy shooting “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” It seems that Lucas went through the roster of old Han Solo actors and pulled out one he liked. King may have hated his audition, but George Lucas remembered him in a positive light; King must have been one of the film’s ultimate finalists.
King appeared in cult films like”Slaughterhouse-Five,” “Andy Warhol’s Bad,” and “Class of 1984.” He also played one of the main characters in the TV series “Riptide” and had a recurring role on “Melrose Place.” His career is varied and interesting.
