What Donald Glover Said About Lando Being Pansexual in 'Solo'

Director Ron Howard's latest sci-fi film venture Solo: A Star Wars Story, or simply Solo, is unlike previous franchise installments for one reason: Lando Calrissian is pansexual.

Pansexual is characterized as an individual that has a "sexual desire or attraction that is not limited to people of a particular gender identity or sexual orientation," according to Merriam-Webster. In Solo, Lando is played by Donald Glover, a multihyphenate known for often pushing boundaries in his acting and music endeavors. Glover has no problem with portraying the character on the big screen.

"Yeah, he's coming on to everybody. I mean, yeah, whatever," Glover, 34, said on SiriusXM's Entertainment Weekly Radio program Tuesday. "It just didn't seem that weird to me 'cause I feel like if you're in space it's kind of like, the door is open!"

To prepare for the part, Glover admitted to taking direction from actor Billy Dee Williams—the man who first brought recognition to the character in earlier Star Wars installments. In Solo, Glover is playing a younger version of Lando.

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Rumors regarding Lando's pansexuality in Solo first surfaced May 17. In an interview with Huffington Post, co-screenwriter Jonathan Kasdan addresses the "fluidity" both Glover and Williams have brought to the famed character. "There's a fluidity to Donald and Billy Dee's [depiction of Lando's] sexuality. I mean, I would have loved to have gotten a more explicitly LGBT character into this movie," Kasdan said. "I think it's time, certainly, for that, and I love the fluidity—sort of the spectrum of sexuality that Donald appeals to and that droids are a part of."

The Star Wars franchise has never had an explicit LGBTQ character, an issue fans have addressed. Some saw Glover's Lando having a blatant pansexual identification as an achievement for LGBTQ characters in film, but several other fans suggested that it should've been more direct. One Twitter user claimed "only subverting hetero-normativity between the lines won't satisfy those LGBTQ Disney fans craving *explicit* representation," whereas a second said it promotes "the idea that a character who likes to have sex = pansexual."

Kathleen Kennedy, head of Lucasfilm, has expressed her thoughts on whether LGBTQ representation needs improvements within the Star Wars franchise—a thing the Star Trek universe has been more progressive about. "The demographics within our business don't reflect society, and they certainly don't reflect the audience," Kennedy told USA Today in 2013. "There should be many, many more faces of color, many more women, many more gay people."

Solo: A Star Wars Story hits theaters Friday.