Billy Dee Williams, who’s set to reprise his role as Lando Calrissian in Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, has come out as gender fluid.
The 82-year-old actor revealed in an interview with Esquire that he uses both ‘himself’ and ‘herself.’
The actor showed off his effortless cool by indicating he ‘wasn’t afraid to show that side’ of himself.
Revealing: Billy Dee Williams, 82, who’s set to reprise his role as Lando Calrissian in Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, came out as gender fluid in a new Esquire interview
While speaking with Matt Miller, Billy Dee opened up about his comfortable feelings on gender.
‘You see I say “himself” and “herself,” because I also see myself as feminine as well as masculine,’ he revealed.
‘I’m a very soft person. I’m not afraid to show that side of myself.’
Miller then brought up a SiriusXM interview Donald Glover gave about playing a younger version of Lando Calrissian, in which he described the character as pansexual.
‘Really? That kid is brilliant — just look at those videos,’ he said, referring to Childish Gambino’s This Is America music video.
Opening up: ‘You see I say “himself” and “herself,” because I also see myself as feminine as well as masculine,’ he revealed. ‘I’m a very soft person. I’m not afraid to show that side of myself’
Williams’ role in the original Star Wars trilogy has been etched into cultural memory, but it’s an earlier role that he’s most proud of: Brian’s Song from 1971.
He was nominated for an Emmy for the TV movie, which also stars James Caan. The tearjerker was about real-life Chicago Bears player Brian Piccolo, who befriended his African-American teammate Gayle Sayers.
The two struck up an enduring friendship and became the first interracial roommates in the NFL. But Piccolo was diagnosed with cancer in 1969 and died the following year.
‘It was a love story, really,’ said Billy Dee. ‘Between two guys. Without sex. It ended up being a kind of breakthrough in terms of racial division.’
Favorite role: He’s best known for his Star Wars role, but his favorite performance was in Brian’s Song (1971). ‘It was a love story, really,’ said Billy Dee. ‘Between two guys. Without sex. It ended up being a kind of breakthrough in terms of racial division’; still from The Empire Strikes Back
He continued speaking about his pathbreaking status in terms of his Star Wars character.
‘What I presented on that screen people didn’t expect to see. And I deliberately presented something that nobody had experienced before: a romantic brown-skinned boy,’ he said.
The Lady Sings The Blues actor also opined on the future of Lando after The Rise Of Skywalker, joking that it depends on ‘how much money is generated.’
‘The one thing about show business, you can resurrect anything,’ he added.
Important: Williams talked about hos important Lando Calrissian was to the blockbuster saga. ‘What I presented on that screen people didn’t expect to see. And I deliberately presented something that nobody had experienced before: a romantic brown-skinned boy’
Billy Dee didn’t hold anything back when speaking of his late friend Carrie Fisher and current friend Harrison Ford.
Fisher claimed she had a three-month-long affair with the Indiana Jones star during the filming of the original Star Wars in 1976.
‘As far as I’m concerned, I mean, I don’t care what people are — if they’re f***ing each other and they’re sucking each other, whatever they’re doing, that’s fine with me. I don’t care.’
The actor and singer also opined on what his character had been doing between his last appearance in Return Of The Jedi and the upcoming installment.
‘I always imagined Lando being like Steve Wynn, running Las Vegas. Because he’s a gambler. But he was a bit of a showman, a bit of an entrepreneur.’
‘That’s how I see Lando. I never necessarily saw him as a general running around shooting things.’
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker will be released nationwide on December 20, 2019.
Never ending: The actor also opined on the future of Lando after The Rise Of Skywalker, joking that it depends on ‘how much money is generated.’ ‘The one thing about show business, you can resurrect anything,’ he added