Via Starwars.com:

STARWARS.COM SPEAKS WITH CHEWBACCA HIMSELF, JOONAS SUOTAMO, ABOUT ROAST PORG AND THE UPCOMING SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY.

Stepping into the role of Chewbacca, Joonas Suotamo had — both literally and figuratively — some pretty big shoes to fill. (Not Chewie’s, of course — he doesn’t wear any.) We’re talking about those of Peter Mayhew, the 7-foot-2 actor who played the world’s favorite Wookiee since 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope. But beginning with 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, in which he shared the role with and learned from Mayhew, before officially taking over the part for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Suotamo has captured all of what we love about Chewie: his warmth, his ferocity, his loyalty. His overall walking-carpetness. With Star Wars: The Last Jedi just released on Digital and Movies Anywhere and coming to 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and On-Demand on March 27 — and with Solo: A Star Wars Story just around the corner — StarWars.com caught up with the 6-foot-11 Finland native for a brief Chewie chat. (For more with Suotamo, be sure to check out this week’s Star Wars Show, which you can watch below.)

StarWars.com: What was it like the first time you put on the costume?

Joonas Suotamo: The first time I put on the costume, [head of creature effects] Neal Scanlan’s dog was in the creature effects shop. And I freaked the hell out of that dog. [Laughs] It was so scared, and it was running around. Some dogs can’t handle the big, furry, walking…

StarWars.com: …carpet?

Joonas Suotamo: [Laughs] Yeah. But I remember looking in the mirror and thinking, “Oh, wow. This is going to be special.” The next time I put it on was my first day and walking onto the Millennium Falcon. It was quite crazy.

Click below to read the full article.