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Billy Dee Williams, probably best known for his role as Star Wars’ Lando Calrissian, has opened up about the persistent fan backlash over Lando’s betrayal of Han Solo in The Empire Strikes Back. For more than four decades, people have approached Williams in different settings, expressing their profound disappointment in Lando’s decisions. Recently, he shared his perspective on this prolonged fan backlash in an interview with EW’s Dagobah Dispatch podcast.
“When I would pick my daughter up from school, the kids would run up to me and say, ‘You betrayed Han Solo!'” Williams said (via EW). “I’d go on an airplane and the airplane stewards would say, ‘You betrayed Han Solo!'”
But, that’s not necessarily how Williams sees it–or has come to see over the last 40 years. “I got [people coming up to me] for a lotta years, so finally I said, ‘Look, think about the whole situation. You’re up against a pretty formidable character, Darth Vader, and then there’s Boba Fett, and these people were invading my space, and I had to bargain with them… to prevent at least the complete demise of Han Solo and his friends.”
For those skeptical of his explanation that Lando’s choices were influenced by the Empire’s overwhelming force and the people he was assigned to protect as Baron Administrator of Cloud City, he admitted to becoming weary of repeatedly explaining the situation. Eventually, he simplified it by posing a poignant question to his critics: “Did anybody die? Nobody died!”
In his upcoming memoir What Have We Here?, which is set to hit shelves on February 13, the 86-year-old Williams shares additional stories about Star Wars and various projects from his extensive career.
