The mantle of Chewbacca has officially been passed down and the new actor knows he has a very big fur suit to fill.
For almost 40 years, Peter Mayhew has played Chewbacca in every Star Wars movie the character appeared in. Even in 2015’s The Force Awakens, the now-disabled actor played the role when he could, leaving the more physical scenes for a young actor named Joonas Suotamo. With filming having now begun on the Han Solo movie, Suotamo has officially taken over the role full time and wrote a note to fans explaining his feeling on inheriting such an iconic role.
I’m ecstatic. It’s official. And here is my statement to this terrific piece of news https://t.co/a1DPsNDb2P pic.twitter.com/r4EUZ2r17V
— Joonas Suotamo (@JoonasSuotamo) February 21, 2017
That is the kind of heartfelt reverence that will endear him not just to Star Wars fans, but Mayhew himself.
Suotamo joins Alden Ehrenrich and Donald Glover in the untitled Han Solo Star Wars Story, which is now filming for a May 2018 release.