Star Wars: George Lucas Based Han Solo On This Legendary Director
While most fans know Francis Ford Coppola as the legendary director behind "The Godfather," what they may not realize is how Coppola served as a godfather of sorts to fellow film luminary George Lucas.
After meeting the future film force on the set of his 1968 film "Finian's Rainbow," Coppola became a major influence on Lucas early in his career. Coppola even served as an executive producer on Lucas' feature directorial debut, 1971's "THX: 1138," and produced the director's commercial breakthrough, 1973's "American Graffiti." Understandably, the filmmaker meant a lot to Lucas, which explains why a key character with a maverick demeanor played by Harrison Ford in the writer-director's 1977 blockbuster, "Star Wars," was inspired by Coppola.
"That's Han Solo, because George felt [that] I just took crazy reckless chances and would jump off a mountain without knowing what was down there to land on and that I would end up with no money," Coppola told Sal Khan in an October 2016 video for Khan Academy. "So, he created — you can look it up — say, 'Francis Coppola-Han Solo and you'll find it. So, I'm sort of the dashing failure."
Coppola wasn't afraid to admit he takes big risks during his interview with Khan, which is why the filmmaker believes Lucas rightly created Han Solo with his persona in mind. "I always called him a stick in the mud [because] George is very conservative, though his imagination is wild. But in his personal life, he's pretty conservative, and I'm the opposite," Coppola explained.
Coppola says he and Lucas have opposite approaches to filmmaking
Regarding his penchant for taking major risks in both films and business ventures, Coppola detailed for Sal Khan his rationale for throwing caution to the wind. Quite simply, Coppola said, he didn't want to be a person who gets to the end of their life and laments about the things he didn't do.
"I'm not afraid of taking chances and taking risks because so far, what we know, you get this one life, and the worst thing that could possibly happen when you're this old, old, old man or old woman is to be there getting ready to die and saying, 'Oh, I wish I had done this. I wish I had done that,'" Coppola told Khan. "You don't wanna do that. In my case, I'm gonna say, 'Oh, I got to make movies, and I got to see my kids make movies, and I got to make wine, and I got to do experimental workshops.' And I'm gonna be so busy talking about all the things I got to do that when I die, I'm not gonna notice it."
Seven years after the Khan interview, Coppola is taking another big risk by sinking $120 million of his own money into the making of his upcoming sci-fi drama "Megalopolis." The film — which chronicles the rebuilding of New York City after a disastrous event — features a massive ensemble cast including Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Laurence Fishburne, Jason Schwartzman, and Shia LeBeouf.