Billy Dee Williams to return as Lando Calrissian in ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’

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The man behind the mask, Anthony Daniels, was a British radio and theater actor before trading up for C3P0's gold armor. He's the only actor to have had a role in all seven live-action 'Star Wars' movies and the franchise's animated feature film, 'The Clone Wars.'
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To play Han Solo's Wookie sidekick, the 7'2" Chewbacca, Lucas cast British giant Peter Mayhew. He has continued to play the beloved Wookie in following films, including the upcoming 2017 "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."
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For the role of Princess Leia, Lucas cast Carrie Fisher, the 19-year-old daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Debbie Reynolds - but only reportedly after Jodie Foster turned down the part. While Fisher took a break from the big screen to become a respected novelist and screenwriter, she reprised her role as Princess Leia in the highly-anticipated 2015 film, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." On Dec. 27, 2016, the "Star Wars" icon tragically died after suffering a heart attack on a plane. She was 60-years-old. Her mother, Debbie Reynolds died just one day later. The late actress made an appearance from beyond the grave in the highly anticipated and well-received "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" released Dec. 15, 2017.
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Designed to be Laurel to C3P0's Hardy, tiny R2D2 was actually played by a man - 3'8" British actor Kenny Baker. Sadly, Baker died in 2016, eleven days before his 82nd birthday.
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...but director George Lucas wasn't satisfied with Prowse's voice on the dailies, so he brought in actor James Earl Jones to provide the Sith Lord's now-legendary vocals. Jones has gone to a prolific acting career on stage, the big screen and in television. In 2017, he received the Lifetime Achievement Tony Award.
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Mark Hamill, 24 years old when filming started, starred as the fledgling Jedi Luke Skywalker, the hero of the original trilogy. The actor, now 60, has found a second career voicing characters in cartoons. Long before Heath Ledger put on the face-paint, many comic fans considered Hamill the true Joker, based on his vocal performance as the Clown Prince of Crime in the animated Batman series. He reprised his role as Luke Skywalker for the upcoming 2017 film "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."
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Billy Dee Williams will reportedly return as Lando Calrissian in the next "Star Wars" movie.

By Peter Sblendorio | psblendorio@nydailynews.com | New York Daily News

PUBLISHED: July 10, 2018 at 9:10 a.m. | UPDATED: December 13, 2018 at 3:00 a.m.

A major star is set to rejoin the “Star Wars” universe.

Billy Dee Williams will reprise his role as the smooth-talking Lando Calrissian in the upcoming “Star Wars: Episode IX,” according to The Hollywood Reporter, which cited multiple sources.

The 81-year-old actor first joined the sci-fi franchise for its second installment, 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back,” and has not appeared in a “Star Wars” flick since “Return of the Jedi,” which premiered in 1983.

Williams would become the latest star from the original trilogy to appear in the new “Star Wars” movies. Others who have returned include Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, who each reprised their iconic roles in “The Force Awakens” in 2015, and James Earl Jones, who returned to voice Darth Vader in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” the following year.

Speculation about Williams’ potential return had begun to swirl of late after the actor was forced to back out of events due to his schedule for an undisclosed film, THR reported.

The character of Lando garnered renewed attention earlier this year when Donald Glover, 34, portrayed a younger version of the longtime space smuggler in the anthology film “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”

“Episode IX” will serve as the third and final chapter of the latest “Star Wars” trilogy, following in the footsteps of “The Force Awakens” and last year’s “The Last Jedi.”

The movie is slated for a Dec. 20, 2019, premiere. Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Adam Driver are among the stars set to return, while Variety reported last week that Keri Russell was in talks for a role in the film as well.