Is Billy Dee Williams the coolest person ever? Perhaps. He also just seems like a nice guy who appreciates his fans and his coworkers. He’s respected and loved by almost everyone, and when we first saw footage from The Rise of Skywalker, most of us were mega-hyped about the return of Lando Calrissian, the coolest man in the galaxy. To promote his return to the franchise, Billy Dee did an interview with Esquire and I barely have words for how much I enjoyed reading this. It’s very well-written, first off, but he’s just a great subject and he appreciates his career and he has interesting thoughts about everything (he also loves Chicken Kiev, which few places make and I would know because it’s one of my favorite dishes too). You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
His guide to being cool: “Be yourself.” He tells me this while sipping a Tito’s vodka neat with a little bit of Emergen-C sprinkled into it. “I never tried to be anything except myself. I think of myself as a relatively colorful character who doesn’t take himself or herself too seriously.”
On gender fluidity: “And you see I say ‘himself’ and ‘herself,’ because I also see myself as feminine as well as masculine. I’m a very soft person. I’m not afraid to show that side of myself.” When I point out that Donald Glover talked about that type of gender fluidity when playing a young Lando in 2018’s Solo, Williams lights up. “Really? That kid is brilliant—just look at those videos.”
He’s most proud of his performance in the 1971 TV movie Brian’s Song. “It was a love story, really. Between two guys. Without sex. It ended up being a kind of breakthrough in terms of racial division.”
Playing Lando in an era where sci-fi has always been white: The Rock and Jamie Foxx, both of whom said their careers are indebted to Lando. “The Rock calls me the OG,” Williams says. “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 didn’t even have to audition for The Empire Strikes Back: “[The director] knew I could pull off someone who was likable and charming. The most interesting characters are those who are dubious . . . but you want the audience to really fall in love with them.”
He understands why Lando had to double-cross Han and Leia. “He was up against Darth Vader. I don’t blame him for what he did.”
His relationships on the set of the Star Wars movies: On set, he befriended costars Carrie Fisher (who he says had a brilliant mind) and Harrison Ford (whom he still considers a dear friend), and he avoided workplace gossip. “As far as I’m concerned, I mean, I don’t care what people are—if they’re f–king each other and they’re sucking each other, whatever they’re doing, that’s fine with me. I don’t care,” he says of Fisher and Ford’s romance, as described in her memoir.
Seeing what the younger Star Wars actors are dealing with online: “You’re always going to have people making stupid comments. One deals with indignities all the time. Do you sit around with vengeance in your soul? You can’t do that. I’m not forcing people to listen to my point of view, but if I can present it in some creative fashion—I’m the painter, tweaking, adding, contributing, putting in something that you haven’t thought about, maybe.”
“And you see I say ‘himself’ and ‘herself,’ because I also see myself as feminine as well as masculine. I’m a very soft person.” I mean… I always feel like it’s so tricky to talk about gender fluidity because I feel like too many people are using assumptions of femininity and masculinity on these outdated archetypes. But maybe gender is the outdated archetype? Phew. I don’t know. But I think it’s great that Billy Dee refers to himself as herself sometimes. Also: vodka with Emergen-C? AH-MAZING.
Also: Billy Dee just came out and said he has no idea why people think he’s gender fluid now.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Yeah I dont get why people thought he was saying he is gender fluid. I didn’t get that from what he said at all. I think he was speaking from an old school way of thinking about softness- that’s it’s a feminine energy.
Self-referencing as “herself” though?
“Im a very soft person. Im not afraid to show that side of myself”.
Billy Dee comes from a generation that views softness as feminine energy.
And considering that Billy Dee himself doesnt actually identify as gender fluid I feel comfortable stating that his comments weren’t actually meant to suggest as much.
Right, but he also doesn’t really seem to understand what the term “gender fluid” means, evidenced by his clarification that he’s not gay. I think what he’s describing (his feminine energy or whatever he said) sounds rather gender fluid, whether or not he’s comfortable with that label.
I wondered about that too. Like all people he has “masculine” and “feminine” characteristics. And gender is real, scientifically there are differences (genetically, physically, hormonal, etc) between men and women, no one can deny that. But what we as humans call masculine/feminine can change. Rich French aristocrats wore “feminine”clothing, wigs, perfume, shoes yet considered themselves men. So instead of saying we are gender fluid, why not just stop defining what behavior makes you a man or a woman and just be you?
Gender is a social construct. Biological sex is real. They’re not the same thing.
I completely agree on this, though: “why not just stop defining what behavior makes you a man or a woman and just be you?”
Everything I want to type about this hot beautiful man is dirty. He’s “soft”? I don’t think so.
Off To try vodka with Emergency-C.
(I’d die a happy woman to have dinner with Billy at the Russian Tea Room.)
I love his comments about Donald Glover. So gracious.
He is so so so handsome. Loved him in Lady Sings the Blues with Diana Ross. Swoon.
Vodka and Emergen-C, lmao. I love it.
I remember when he was in Lady Sings the Blues with Miss Diana Ross (yeah she liked to refer o herself that way a long time ago). He was so handsome. He still has it at 84!
Lady Sings the Blues and Mahogany! So handsome!! Billy Dee could have got it then and could still get it now!