Major Black Actor Cut From The Next ‘Star Wars’ Film

Major buzz is already surrounding the upcoming Star Wars stand-alone Han Solo film, and while it seems as nothing but praise has surrounded the movie’s production, thus far, a wrench has been thrown in the confetti as one major star just announced that he’s been cut from the action.

According to Deadline, Michael Kenneth Williams, who received an Emmy most recently for his performance in HBO’s The Night Of, will no longer be a part of the cast.

He revealed that his part has been cut in the multiple series of reshoots with new director Ron Howard. He explained to the site that the new production schedule clashed with his committment to the spy drama The Red Sea Driving Resort, which he is now shooting in South Africa.

“I felt great about what I created with the directors that I worked with,” he said, referencing the original duo, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who exited the project back in June. “It is what it is.”

Further addressing the reshoots, he broke down just how time-consuming it all would become for both him and the new crew.

“When Ron Howard got hired to finish out the film, there were some reshoot issues that needed to be done in regards to my character, in order for it to match the new direction which the producers wanted Ron to carry the film in,” he added. “And that would have required me on a plane a month ago to London, to Pinewood, to do reshoots.”

Expounding on the scheduling conflict, he explained that it would have been practically impossible for him to, essentially, be at two places at once.

“But I’m here, on location in Africa. It’s scheduling,” he said. “I’m not going to be back on the market until the end of November after [his Sundance TV series] Hap and Leonard, and for them to wait that long for me, that would have pushed back the release date, which I believe is in May 2018. They wanted me now; I couldn’t go. So they had to clip-clip-clip.”

While character details still remain top secret, Williams did reveal that his character was a half-human, half-animal in the highly anticipated film.

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