SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY will tell the origin story of one of the franchise’s most beloved heroes – Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) – as well as other franchise favorites Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) and Chewbacca. But we’ll also be seeing a new character grace this vast cinematic landscape in Qi’ra, played by Emilia Clarke. Not much is known about this mysterious woman who knows how to get to the core of Solo, and now the actress is opening up about how this femme fatale factors into the origin story.
Clarke spoke with EW for a massive feature on the movie, and she revealed a bit of the character’s backstory, including that she and Han go all the way back to when they were wee little children, getting into all sorts of mischief and taking spaceships for joy rides.
Well, they grew up as comrades, essentially. They grew up as pals, as partners in crime. There is obviously the romantic side of things. But they grew up together. So they were kids together. And the beautiful thing about this Han Solo story is it’s highlighting all of the most brilliant aspects of Han Solo the character and characterizing those aspects in characters that he meets on his journey to becoming who he is.
She goes on to talk about how big of an impact she has on Han, and that from the earliest point of the movie it’s the two of them against the world. “The point where you meet her, she is with Han. They are both doing what they’ve got to do to survive,” she says. “And that is Qi’ra the whole the movie. The whole way through, she is surviving. And surviving in the underworld that we know to be [filled with] smuggling, aloof gamblers, wrong-side-of-the-tracks nasty ones.”
The character has been described as a femme fatale, and Clarke agrees her character embodies a lot of mystery, saying audiences will spend a lot of time trying to figure her out.
There is a thing throughout the relationship you just can’t put your finger on. And that’s Qi’ra. Every time you think you have got her number you realize you haven’t at all. [Laughs] Which is really hard to play. The goal is that the shadow of Qi’ra is there in Han as a character that we know. This girl is another texture that makes up who he is when we first meet him.
You would think a character this important to Han would come up at some point during the course of the original films, but Clarke teases that means something in this movie happens to make talking about her difficult for Han *wink wink* *nudge nudge*.
There is this underlying joy in an origin story because you know where they end up. And Qi’ra is nowhere to be seen, so … something has happened! [Laughs] You know what I mean?
Emilia Clarke has always managed to blow me away on GAME OF THRONES, so naturally, I'm looking forward to seeing how she handles herself in such a massive world. Bringing in an important female role into Solo's story will hopefully add a bit of depth to the character, and will perhaps factor in how we go back and watch Harrison Ford's Solo interact with Leia (Carrie Fisher). Don't break his heart, Emilia!
SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY arrives May 25.