Billy Dee Williams has just picked up the Hollywood Legacy Award at the American Black Film Festival, which he richly deserves after a fine career appearing in movies like Brian’s Song, Lady Sings the Blues, Mahogany, Nighthawks and Batman (I’m still miffed we never got to see his Harvey Dent become Two-Face). But let’s face it, there’s really only one role people associate with Williams, and that’s Lando Calrissian.
And so, to mark him receiving this honor, his Star Wars co-star Harrison Ford recorded a moving video tribute which Williams tweeted out earlier this week.
— Billy Dee Williams (@realbdw) December 27, 2018
Ford is his usual laconic self here, but at least you can tell he actually gives a shit about doing this video and you can sense a genuine bond between the two men. Plus, there’s a neat montage of behind the scenes photos showing the very youthful looking classic Star Wars cast in their charismatic prime.
Sadly, Ford’s Han Solo and Williams’ Lando Calrissian will never share a scene together again, but we do know that the character will be playing a key role in Episode IX. Precisely what Lando will be up to now remains a mystery, but fan speculation says that he may be roused to action after hearing of Leia’s Resistance being at the edge of destruction after the events of The Last Jedi. There are also rumors that Naomi Ackie’s character in the movie will be Calrissian’s daughter.
We have, of course, seen quite a lot of Lando on screens already this year, with Donald Glover’s performance in Solo: A Star Wars Story being one of the few universally praised things about the movie. In fact, he was so well-liked that it’s rumored that Disney may be considering a spinoff for him, though Solo’s failure may have poisoned that well for a while.
Either way, let’s hope we get a look at Lando in the Star Wars: Episode IX trailer, whenever it lands. And in the meantime, congratulations to Williams for his award. It’s richly deserved.
