Original-Cin Q&A: We talk to Joonas Suotamo, the Finnish basketball player now known as Chewbacca
By Bonnie Laufer
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker flies into theatres on December 19th. In this final chapter of the nine-movie saga, the surviving Resistance fighters face Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and the First Order once more as Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac)’s journey continues.
Chewie, Poe Dameron, Rey and Finn set course for the Force.
With many beloved characters returning for the saga, Finnish actor Joonas Suotamo may not be a household name, but his character certainly is.
Read our review of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Suotamo is a Finnish ex-pro basketball player who has officially taken over the role of Chewbacca. The seven-foot actor served as a body double for 7’3” Peter Mayhew in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and reprised the role in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, with Mayhew as a consultant. He played Chewbacca, ahem, solo in Solo: A Star Wars Story and plays him in The Rise of Skywalker.
As an athlete, Suotamo played center and power forward for the Penn State Nittany Lions . After going undrafted by the NBA, he played briefly for the Finnish National Team and seven seasons in the Finnish pro league.
Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with Joonas Suotamo about playing this iconic character and the most important things he learned from his predecessor Peter Mayhew.
ORIGINAL-CIN: Chewbacca is one of the most popular and loved characters in the Star Wars movies. Was stepping into his furry footsteps intimidating, exhilarating, scary?
JOONAS SUOTAMO: “It’s mostly exciting! I get to play this character who means so much to different people, and it's great to see the reactions of crew and cast members when
I do something that's heroic or iconic. To create some emotions in my collaborators is always great. Plus watching the film with an audience and hearing the gasps and the laughs is always the biggest reward.”
OC: It's got to be gratifying, but being in the Chewbacca costume you get to maintain some anonymity. So you can walk around in public and most of the time no one knows who you are.
SUOTAMO: “That's absolutely true. I am just that tall guy. People stop me and ask, ‘How tall are you? Do you play basketball?’”
OC: Now you can say, ‘No I'm Chewbacca!’
SUOTAMO: “Yeah, but I never do. I’m happy to let them know that it's great to be that guy who plays basketball on a local team.”
OC: “You of course took over the role from Peter Mayhew who was the original Chewbacca. But you got to work with him on many of the films before he passed away in April. What was the most important advice he gave you to play this character?”
SUOTAMO: “My whole performance is based on Peter’s performance. I closely watched his performance, especially in the original trilogy and tried my best to keep the essence that he brought to the character.
Chewbacca’s alter-ego Joonas Suotamo poses with noted Star Wars nut Stephen Colbert
“We also had a Wookie boot camp where he showed me how he walked and some of the quirks of his physicality. The most important thing I learned from Peter was about the posture and the movement. The angles of the head and how to move it inside the costume. To learn that from him was of great value.”
OC: What ultimately was the biggest challenge playing Chewbacca?
SUOTAMO: “I found opening his mouth took some getting used to, because it’s a gadget that sometimes doesn’t work the way you want it to. I control it with my jaw and when I open my mouth you get that growly snarl.
“Also, it's the consistency, because I'm playing a character who moves in a different way than myself who is silent when I'm very vocal. I like to interact. Chewbacca’s more like the silent, wise type. So it was different playing someone like that.”
OC: I can imagine that just being on a Star Wars set is a dream come true, but to work with this cast had to have been life changing.
SUOTAMO: “It was absolutely wonderful. I started to get to know everyone on The Force Awakens. And to have J.J. Abrams back as our director this last episode of the trilogy and the last episode of the Star Wars saga was a fantastic opportunity.
“To do it one more time with this band of heroes was, as you say, life changing. I cherished every moment, and we laughed and had so much fun on set.
“Mostly I remember it was hard work with really long days. But shooting this beautiful script written by J.J. and Chris Terrio was a thrill. We all knew how great it looked on the page, but were all so excited to see the finished product. And I have to say that I am really happy with how it turned out and I am excited for people to see it.”
OC: I’m sure growing up you were a Star Wars fan. But for you to actually participate and play one of the most iconic characters in cinematic history is extraordinary. Were you on set every day asking yourself, “is this really happening?”
SUOTAMO: “Oh, every single day. I remember waking up in the morning thinking, ‘Well, that was a good dream. Oh wait, it’s true. This is really happening to me!’ It still feels unreal to me.
OC: How does your son feel about having Chewbacca for a dad?
SUOTAMO: “Well, it’s going to be an interesting discussion when he gets a bit older. ‘Son, I’m Chewbacca, deal with it.’ ( laughs) No, he knows actually, because he came on set when I was inside the suit. I told him from the suit that, ‘Daddy is here, inside this fur suit!’
“So he knows it's me, and now he smiles every time he sees Chewbacca pictures. He knows something is up. I also do the noise often enough and his ears perk up.”