It was a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away when we last saw Lando Calrissian doing his thing in the Millennium Falcon.
But the smooth-talking smuggler is back — taking the helm once again, along with Chewie, in the latest Star Wars movie, “The Rise of Skywalker.”
Billy Dee Williams spoke to the new Vanity Fair Summer Issue about what it’s like to don the cape more than three decades after hanging it up — and about the grief he still gets over that deal he cut with Darth Vader.
“Nobody died!” Williams says of the “Empire Strikes Back” betrayal, which landed Lando’s good buddy, Han Solo, in carbonite for what seemed like an eternity.
“He was thrown into a situation which he didn’t look for, and he had to try to figure out how to deal with an entity which is more than just a human,” the 82-year-old actor explained.
Describing how the character has managed to stay around so long, Williams told Vanity Fair, “He’s a survivor. It’s expediency for him.”
Lando will be manning the fastest hunk o’ junk in the galaxy with Chewbacca and Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron while the Rebellion/Resistance continues to wage its seemingly never-ending war against the First Order/Sith.
Sources told Vanity Fair that “Rise” will pick things up about a year after the end of “The Last Jedi” — with Rey (Daisy Ridley) progressing in her Jedi training “to the point where it’s almost complete.”
No doubt she’ll bump into fallen Jedi-turned-Sith renegade Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver.
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” is due in theaters this December.