Harrison Ford was shocked by Han Solo’s comeback in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

He joked that JJ Abrams is "a very persuasive guy"
Harrison Ford as Han Solo in The Force Awakens
Disney/Lucasfilm Ltd
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Harrison Ford has admitted that he was very surprised when director JJ Abrams asked him to appear as Han Solo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - despite his character dying in a previous film.

Ford, 77, reprised his famous role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015, which Abrams also directed, alongside other original cast members Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill.

However, Han Solo famously met a tragic end in the film when he was killed by his son Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver.

Despite this, the character briefly reappears in The Rise of Skywalker, which is the ninth and final film in Star Wars’ Skywalker saga, to speak to his now-repentant son.

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)- In pictures

1/39

Recalling his conversation with Abrams, Ford told Good Morning America: “When JJ asked me to do it, I said, ‘Are you kidding? I’m dead!’”

Joking that Abrams is “a very persuasive guy,” he explained: “He said ‘Sorta dead. You can do this.’ He hadn’t written anything at that time.

“But he said ‘This is going to be great.’ So I said ‘OK.’

“If JJ asked you to do something, you’d probably do it too. He’s a very persuasive guy.”

Ford appeared in The Force Awakens in 2015 ()

Ford said that the emotional scene was “a useful addition to the story and the continuing development of Adam Driver’s character” and added that it was “great” to have “the chance to do another scene” with the Oscar nominee.

“Last time, it didn’t turn out so well for me,” he joked. “But it worked for him.”

The Rise of Skywalker arrived in cinemas in December and was met with mixed reactions from fans and critics.

CGI technology allowed Abrams and his team to repurpose unused footage of Fisher from The Force Awakens to allow Princess Leia to appear in the story, after she died in 2016 at the age of 60.

Hamill also made a brief appearance in the film, which starred John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in