Emilia Clarke Says Ron Howard “Saved” ‘Solo’ And Praises Kathleen Kennedy For Making The Change

Actress Emilia Clarke has experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows of being a star. From becoming one of the leads on TV’s biggest show, “Game of Thrones,” to starring in a massive dumpster fire of a reboot in “Terminator: Genisys,” Clarke has experience knowing what’s good and what’s bad on a set. So, when she realized something wasn’t right on the set of “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” she knew that things were about to change.

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the actress opens up about the struggles she experienced on ‘Solo’ and why the change in directors made her feel much more confident with the finished product. Overall, Clarke feels that her ‘Solo’ character Qi’ra will be a breath of fresh air in the galaxy far, far away.

READ MORE: ‘Solo’: Ron Howard & Lucasfilm Craft A Safe, Fan Service-y, But Entertaining ‘Star Wars’ Adventure [Review]

“We’re going to hit you with a character that could very easily well be a dude, because you question her motives,” she says. “That’s really fucking exciting in the ‘Star Wars’ universe, because that has never happened.”

But her excitement for the character wasn’t always a guarantee. During the early parts of filming ‘Solo,’ the actress wasn’t confident in the character and was worried it wasn’t going to work. “I’m not gonna lie,” Clarke says. “I struggled with Qi’ra quite a lot. I was like: ‘Y’all need to stop telling me that she’s “film noir,” because that ain’t a note.’”

The “y’all” she’s referring to can only mean outgoing ‘Solo’ directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller. As we’ve detailed quite a bit, the directing duo ended up being dismissed from the production and replaced by veteran director Ron Howard.

Clark says that Howard “saved” the film and added, “All hail to [Lucasfilm president] Kathy [Kennedy] for hiring Ron.”

Unlike the other ‘Solo’ actors, it appears that Clarke saw the writing on the wall about the change in leadership. She explains that Lord and Miller leaving, and Howard coming in to save the day, made a lot of sense:

“When it comes to that amount of money, you’re almost waiting for that to happen. Money fucks us all up, doesn’t it? There’s so much pressure. Han Solo is a really beloved character. This is a really important movie for the franchise as a whole. It’s a shit ton of money. A shit ton of people. A shit ton of expectations.”

And the actress knows a lot about expectations, and how they can doom a production. Clarke famously starred in the “Terminator” reboot/sequel “Terminator: Genisys.” That film, directed by Alan Taylor, was trashed upon release and ended up sinking any hopes for a new franchise. (Side note – the franchise is getting a new reboot/sequel in 2019)

Clarke says she watched Taylor get “eaten and chewed up on ‘Terminator.’ He was not the director I remembered. He didn’t have a good time. No one had a good time.” She adds that she was “relieved” that she didn’t have to come back for any sequels. Apparently, the feeling on set was so bad that the neighboring crew for the epically bad “Fantastic Four” reboot made jackets that read “AT LEAST WE’RE NOT ON TERMINATOR.”

Ouch.

But Clarke is happy with how ‘Solo’ turned out and was very vocal to the filmmakers involved to make sure to keep Qi’ra’s best scenes in the film. In fact, there was one scene she fought for and told them, “That is going to be badass as fuck. Don’t forget your audience.”

“Solo: A Star Wars Story” hits theaters May 25.