Billy Dee Williams has felt the wrath of angry Star Wars fans.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly's Dagobah Dispatch podcast, the actor, who played Lando Calrissian in the saga, revealed that furious fans would often confront him for Lando's betrayal of Han Solo in The Empire Strikes Back.
"When I went to pick my daughter up from school, the kids would run up to me and say, 'You betrayed Han Solo!'" the actor revealed. "I'd get on an airplane, and the airplane stewardess would say, 'You betrayed Han Solo!' Well, I got that for a lot of years."
But, as Williams explained, Lando did have a pretty understandable reason for selling his old friend out. "So finally I said, 'Look, think about the whole situation. You're up against a pretty formidable character, Darth Vader, and then there's of course Boba Fett. And these people were invading my space, and I had to bargain with them. But the bargain, it at least prevented the complete demise of Han Solo and his friends. But I had to hold on to my whole situation.'"
He continued: "So I found myself explaining all this stuff – well it's not me, it's Lando Calrissian – I found myself having to explain all of this, to a point where I finally said to people, 'Look, I'm tired of explaining all of this. Did anybody die? Nobody died. I think that was a clear indication that I – or Lando – was trying to figure something out, and he was trying to figure primarily to hold onto his situation without the complete demise of his friends.'"
In fairness to Lando, he did immediately betray the Empire to help Chewie and Leia try to rescue Han. That's enough for us to forgive him.
This year in Star Wars brings more Young Jedi Adventures, The Bad Batch season 3, Skeleton Crew, and The Acolyte. Keep up with everything with our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows.
