It looks like Billy Dee Williams is just as gender fluid as his suave Star Wars scoundrel, Lando Calrissian.
Speaking in an interview with Esquire to help promote the latest film in the Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker star Billy Dee Williams opens up about his gender fluidity. According to the legendary Star Wars actor, he isn't afraid to reveal that he's actually a very soft person and that he sees himself both as feminine and masculine.
"I say ‘himself' and ‘herself,' because I also see myself as feminine as well as masculine," he said. "I'm a very soft person. I'm not afraid to show that side of myself."
This shouldn't really come as a surprise to fans. Lando has always had some sort of magnetic, gender-fluid charisma to him. After first appearing in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Williams is set to reprise his role as the debonair Star Wars scoundrel in The Rise of Skywalker.
In the interview with the publication, Williams also couldn't help but praise Donald Glover who played the younger version of Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story, a movie which confirmed that the smuggler was actually a pansexual character (at some point fans even get to question Lando's relationship with his droid, L3).
It's pretty brave to hear Williams talk about his own gender fluidity, not only as a Star Wars actor but as an individual. Star Wars fans can be pretty harsh at times, some making racist and sexist attacks online against actors of characters they don't really take to like Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), Rey (Daisy Ridley), and Finn (John Boyega). Never the less, this ought to be a new age of diversity and tolerance, one that we hope traditional fans will finally come to accept.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premieres December 20, 2019.
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