BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Inspired a Plot Point Iin ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’

28 May 2018

The newly released Solo: A Star Wars Story delves deeper into the backstory of Han Solo, the character from the Star Wars franchise. As the father-and-son screenwriting team of Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan reveal in a new interview, they found inspiration for the relationship between the young Solo and his parents from revelations uncovered in Bruce Springsteen's 2016 autobiography, Born to Run.

“We had both read Springsteen’s biography right around when we were working on it,” Jonathan Kasdan told Uproxx. “It’s amazing. And we were touched by his relationship with his father. And we thought that it was a different kind of attitude to have about a parent than we’ve seen in Star Wars. And we thought that would be cool.”

“And then Lando jumps in and says, ‘On the other hand, my mother was a fantastic person,’" said Lawrence, who also wrote The Force Awakens and Return of the Jedi. "But Han says nothing in response to that. So his childhood was pretty grim.”

In addition to Springsteen going into detail about his complex relationship with his father in Born to Run, he occasionally wrote about it in songs like 'Adam Raised a Cain' and 'Independence Day.' Although he resolved his issues with his dad later, Springsteen has said that when growing up, he found it difficult to bond with his father; the Kasdans put that conflict into Solo's history, including a moment where he recalls sitting in a starship that he built.

“He is so vague on what his real history is,” Lawrence said. “And he knows he was alienated from his father. He idolized him! And when his father took him up to that ship and let him sit there, he was thrilled. But it was one of the few moments of connections between them.”