Watch Kelly Clarkson reveal who she’d cast in a Star Wars remake: ‘Matthew McConaughey can play a good a–hole’
“The original cast is already perfect. We love them. No dissing. No shade!” Clarkson explained before her picks.
The Force is strong with Kelly Clarkson.
In celebration of May the Fourth, a.k.a. Star Wars Day, the daytime talk show host was challenged to recast six iconic roles from the franchise — Princess Leia, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Yoda, and Obi-Wan Kenobi — as if A New Hope was being made today instead of 1977. (And yes, Yoda wasn’t in A New Hope, but Clarkson added him in because he’s “a fan favorite.”)
“The original cast is already perfect. We love them. No dissing. No shade!” Clarkson prefaced her remarks before making her picks. “This is just for entertainment! So let’s recast Star Wars, shall we?”
Clarkson was then presented with a series of options for Princess Leia, which included Anya Taylor-Joy, Millie Bobby Brown, Halle Bailey, Zendaya, and Florence Pugh. While she initially sided with Brown, it was Pugh who stole her pick for the princess of Alderaan in the end.
“I’m kinda obsessed with her,” Clarkson confessed about Pugh, calling her “pretty incredible.”
When it came to casting Leia’s brother Luke, Clarkson had to choose between Timothée Chalamet, Tom Holland, Jordan Fisher, Harry Styles, Dev Patel, and Jacob Elordi. Holland, who may still owe Clarkson money, was a clear frontrunner for the category because he has “little bit of sweet cuteness to him,” before Patel appeared and promptly stole the show and the role from the Spider-Man star.
And, as it turns out, there was only one actor who had the ability to overpower Matthew McConaughey as Clarkson’s pick for Han Solo: Jason Momoa. “I feel like I’m betraying Texas if I pick Jason Momoa, but it’s Jason Momoa, so I’m gonna have to pick him as Han Solo,” she declared. “Although he’s so hairy too, it’d be funny to see him and Chewbacca next to each other. They’re both like these big, hairy beasts.”
She admitted, however, that it was “kind of a tie” between Momoa and McConaughey in her book, because “Matthew McConaughey can play a good a–hole.”
She was clearer on her pick for Darth Vader, quickly selecting Javier Bardem and turning down Willem Dafoe, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Joaquin Phoenix. “Nobody’s gonna top Javier. Look, I’m just saying, this dude’s out here just being one of the hottest men alive, Javier Bardem,” Clarkson said. “It’s gonna be all about the voice, but I’m gonna go with his voice for Darth Vader.”
As it turns out, George Clooney was the Obi-Wan Kenobi that Clarkson was looking for, and she completed her cast by tapping Kevin Hart to play master Yoda.
Clarkson ended the segment by calling her new Star Wars cast “amazing,” but noted a common thread between almost all of her picks. “Did I pick several people from Dune? I think I did,” she said. “There’s at least three off the top of my head. Well, I’m a big fan of Dune!” (And hey, so was Star Wars creator George Lucas!)
Watch Clarkson cast her new Star Wars in the clip above.
