Warning: Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
In the midst of finding lesser-known actors to play the new leads of the “Star Wars” saga, like Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, the casting department of “The Force Awakens” also had to try to find a double for one of the franchise’s best-known roles: Chewbacca.
Actor Peter Mayhew, the 71-year-old, 7-foot-2 London-born actor who has been the man behind the Wookiee since “Episode IV: A New Hope” opened in 1977, reprises the character once more in “Awakens.” But given Mayhew’s age and abilities (he is often seen walking with a cane), the filmmakers needed someone younger to assist in the film’s physical scenes.
So the casting directors had their orders: span the globe to track down 7-footers with blue eyes (to match those of Mayhew).
Joonas Suotamo, 29, is a longtime basketball player from Finland. He played when he went to college at Penn State from 2005 to 2008 and more recently on his hometown club team in Espoo, located just outside Helsinki. But what many didn’t know was that Suotamo has an interest in acting. Having graduated from Penn State with a film degree, he had always wanted to act, but his size sapped him of his confidence.
“I loved doing theater in high school,” Suotamo told Business Insider. “But I just didn’t believe my chances to get any acting part were possible because of my size, so I studied more behind the camera.”
At 6-foot-11, he was perfectly suited to play power forward and center on the basketball court, but after graduating from Penn State with no incentive to turn pro, Suotamo returned to Finland, playing on the side while starting a video-production company and selling insurance to pay the bills.
“I actually sold the insurance over the phone, so my size wasn’t a factor when approaching people with my pitch,” he said with a laugh.
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