GOING SOLO THE SUOTAMO STORY
Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo proved a worthy successor to original Wookiee Peter Mayhew in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.
Now he’s stepping back in time to tell the tale of Chewie’s first adventure on the Millennium Falcon in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Don’t ever listen to anyone who tells you watching movies won’t get you anywhere. “Star Wars films were the first movies that I really remember watching,” says Joonas Suotamo, who has gone from childhood fan and film student to the dizzy heights of playing Chewbacca on the big screen.
“We put on those VHS tapes and I used to wonder about the little details. Like the blue milk that Luke is drinking with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. I didn’t know what it was called, but I thought it was porridge, because I used to eat a lot of oatmeal when I was little. “I also remember watching the gonk droid, and thinking it was a refrigerator with legs, and I completely didn’t really realize there was a man inside Chewbacca. I can remember thinking that he was just a bear that they found somewhere.” Suotamo was chosen to be the “bear” for a new generation of fans after nearly five months of auditions for a project called “Foodles”—the working alias for The Force Awakens. The process began with him sending a video, filmed by his girlfriend, of his best impression of a caveman. Almost half a year later, following a trip to London to meet J.J. Abrams, he won the role of the world’s favorite Wookiee. “The Force Awakens was my first movie, so obviously it was full of those butterflies-in-your-stomach moments, with everything being so new. Getting to work with J.J. Abrams was an experience I will never forget. “For this new movie,” he says, referring to Solo: A Star Wars Story, “it was thrilling in a different way, because working with this ensemble of superstars is such a unique experience.
All these movies are their own little world. I can’t wait to see this one on screen.” Perhaps the biggest difference this time around is that Peter Mayhew, the man inside the Chewie suit since A New Hope, will not be taking part in this latest production. Mayhew and Suotamo shared Wookiee duties on The Force Awakens, and the older actor served as a consultant on The Last Jedi. Now, for want of a better phrase, Suotamo is going solo. “Before The Force Awakens, Peter and I took part in what we called ‘The Wookiee Bootcamp,’” reveals Suotamo. “When we first met, he said I was a little bit too skinny! We spent a couple of weeks together, going into detail about how Peter used to make the suit work for him, the way, for example, that Chewbacca wears his chest proud. “It was amazing to get that kind of detail, and I couldn’t believe how gracious Peter was about it, because it must be hard to see something that you’ve done all your life be passed on. But I assured him that I had much respect for him and the character he made famous, so Chewie was going to be in good hands. Now I try to take everything that Peter has brought to the role and make it my own, with my own unique physique!” So how does Suotamo’s Chewie differ from Mayhew’s now that he is three films in? “Because of my love for Star Wars and all that comes with it, I wanted the Chewbacca that I play to be very similar in essence to the one that Peter plays,” he says. “I want there to be that same feeling, when you look at this character in Solo, that he is thinking about the same things that Peter thought about in the original trilogy. “It sort of transcends the script and the actor, and it can be very hard to gauge, so I do ask to see my scenes once we’ve filmed them to be sure I’m doing them justice.
Being covered in hair, I don’t have the usual references that I do when working with my own face, and I want to do it well. So that’s how I approach it.” Being “covered in hair” has other drawbacks, too, and Suotamo describes these as the few “non-perks” of the job. “The suit requires a lot of maintenance,” he explains. “Hats off to everyone who works on the suit after each day of sweat and whatever elements we’re subjected to while filming, because they have to take such good care of it! If I want to go to the bathroom, we have to remove the entire costume, which takes about 10 minutes. Unfortunately, it takes longer than that to put it back on. It can get very complicated negotiating the filming schedule for the day, but I still wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Dealing with the elements was, of course, a major issue when filming in Ireland for The Last Jedi, where the island of Skellig Michael served as Luke’s island on Ahch-To. Here Chewie was reunited with his Jedi friend, as well as making new, feathered pals, in the shape of the lovable porgs. “I’ve read the stories that porgs were based on the puffins that were really on the island,” says Suotamo, “but I never saw them myself. The actual porgs on set were real enough for me. The creature effects team, guided by the awesome Neal Scanlan, did such a great job in bringing those characters to life. Watching it hop on to the dashboard of the Millennium Falcon while we were shooting… It was like a real thing. Of course, I had to forget that there were about five people involved in moving the wings, the feet, the body, the head, and the eyes! It was a big collaboration.” And did Suotamo think of all those people when he had to eat a porg? He laughs. “I’ve decided now that eating porgs is a very bad thing! And I think that Chewie instantly regrets it, too!”
Not A Piece Of Junk.
Speaking of the Falcon, Solo sees Suotamo stepping inside the iconic ship for the third time. Does it ever stop being cool? “It is a wonderful place and I could live there,” he laughs. “Everything about it is iconic—even the smell! I think Mark Hamill has commented that the smell it had in the 1970s is still there. It must be the glue, or the construction material that they use. I definitely get goosebumps every time we shoot there.
“I remember the first time I filmed in the cockpit,” he admits, “I broke some part of it off! Coming out of that, I tried to be more careful, but the next time I went in, I broke something else entirely. It took me about three tries to get my bearings and not break anything. Shooting Solo was great, because other people broke stuff as well!” Suotamo’s enthusiasm for Solo is obvious, and not just because he is now the Star Wars veteran on the set. “I can’t wait to see it, first of all,” he enthuses, “because I had such a fun time making it. The cast is just phenomenal. We hung out together; we went to [Qi’ra actor] Emilia Clarke’s place. There was me, Donald [Glover, Lando], Alden [Ehrenreich, Han], Woody [Harrelson, Tobias Beckett], and Phoebe [Waller-Bridge, who plays sassy droid L3-37]. “We had such a good time making this film under the guidance of [director] Ron Howard, who brought so much knowledge and experience to the set. It was just a dream to be making this film. It makes it easier than you might think, being in such good care.” He checks himself and chuckles, realizing how excited he sounds. “Obviously, there’s going to be a ‘buddy’ aspect to this film, where we’re going to see how Chewbacca met Han, and how that relationship started.
There are a lot of escapades in the underworld, with people who are new and people who are known to us already. It’s going to be a fascinating adventure! “When we were shooting, Alden and I used to make light of the fact that we were both playing these iconic characters. I used to ask Alden to do Harrison Ford i mpressions, which he can do so well. But I also respected the fact that he wanted to make this character his own, because in acting you sort of have to be careful about not mimicking the character you’re playing and basing it off someone else’s performance. That’s what I try to do with Chewbacca and that’s what Alden tries to do with Han. It was great to see him give that character his own variety and uniqueness.” Suotamo is, of course, the only actor to appear with both incarnations of Han Solo. “You’re absolutely right! I’ve never thought of that! I’m very grateful to have worked with both of them. One of them is en route to becoming legendary, and one of them already is. Harrison is everything that I remember watching when I was a kid! Alden saw that, too, I think. He saw the boots that he had to fill and he took it on so well. He was always so prepared. He wrote a lot of notes in the development phase. I can’t wait for everyone to see how he pulls it off, because he did such a phenomenal job.”
A Wookiee’s Story.
The title of the movie may be Solo, but Suotamo promises that fans will learn a lot about Chewie’s background, too. “It’s so interesting, because this movie not only tells the story of how Han and Chewie met, but also things about Chewie’s life that we’ve never seen. When they meet, he’s fallen on pretty hard times. I think people are really going to get a new outlook on Chewie after they see that. But it’s a buddy movie most of all, and if you’ve never seen a Star Wars film, you can come to this and be totally engaged. You don’t need any prior knowledge of this world. It’s just a fun-loving adventure for everybody.” People who have never seen a Star Wars film? Surely not. Super-fandom is now pretty much the norm! Speaking of which, what has been Suotamo’s most memorable experience of Star Wars fans so far? He ponders…
“It’s either the person who baked me a Chewbacca cake, or the dad in IKEA who wanted to take a picture of me with his two kids. The kids didn’t have a clue who I was, so they just cried and tried to get away from me! All the fans are so passionate about Star Wars, and they’ve been there for so long. I feel very humbled that I get to be part of making these stories for the next generation.” As well as a worldwide base of dedicated fans, Star Wars also comes with a huge family of cast and crew that a relative newcomer like Suotamo can turn to. “I feel very lucky to have this experienced generation of actors who have done it all of their lives,” he says. “Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Peter… And also Carrie Fisher, who gave me such amazing advice. I remember when we were flying across the Atlantic for the premiere of The Force Awakens, we talked about the fans, and how you need to be in contact with them. She was just so good about that. It’s a legacy I’m stepping into.” So, finally, did anyone else have good advice for Suotamo? “I think I got most of what I needed from Peter and his wife Angie,” he says. “They were very helpful in giving me pointers in how to behave. They told me how passionate the fans can be, and how you have to acknowledge that, because they are the reason we’re here, basically, and that must be respected. “It’s great that I’m now connected to this character who’s so universally known and so iconic. What Peter did in the original films is so personal, and you’re very much able to read what Chewbacca is thinking. That was very groundbreaking, I think, for a suited character, and that has a lot to do with why Chewbacca is so loved. I’m just very happy to be part of that. I can’t wait for what’s next.”
