O’Shea Jackson Jr. Admits Salty Reaction After Losing Major Movie Role to Donald Glover
O’Shea Jackson Jr., son of Ice Cube, candidly admitted he didn’t take it well when he lost a major movie role to Donald Glover.
Jackson Jr. had high hopes of playing Lando Calrissian in 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, but the role ultimately went to Glover, also known as Childish Gambino.
During an appearance on the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast, Jackson Jr. humorously confessed that he was so upset about not landing the role that he deleted every Childish Gambino song from his music library.
When asked if there was a role he wished he had gotten, the Straight Outta Compton star said, “Honestly, I was really close to being Lando. Then I ended up doing Cоcaine Bear with all them. But I was really close to being Lando.”
Jackson Jr. explained that he auditioned for the role four times before finding out Glover had secured it.
“That’s why I thought, ‘Man, I’ve got this in the bag.’ I ain’t never been to that many auditions for one role,” he said. “So I was like, ‘Yeah, we got this.’ When I got the call that my man Glover got it, I deleted every Childish Gambino song I had. It took me a while to come back, man. I’m sorry. I’m a fan still, but my heart was broken.”
“You gotta understand, I’m a Star Wars guy. The Millennium Falcon was about to be my car. Man, I was so ready,” he added.
However, Jackson Jr.’s Star Wars dreams weren’t completely dashed. The 33-year-old actor later starred in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi as Kawlan Roken, a leader in The Path network who helps Jedi escape the Empire.
“But then of course, when one door closes, another one opens,” he said. “I got blessed to be in Obi-Wan Kenobi. I got to kιck it with Ewan McGregor, watch Hayden [Christensen] be [Darth] Vader. It was nuts. Yeah, I’m cool. I’m gonna be Roken.”
After seeing a post on X (formerly Twitter) about his Childish Gambino comments, Jackson Jr. revealed he’s now listening to Glover’s music again.
“Lmaо they back on the playlist,” he said. “I was hurt. I tend to hate everyone who gets parts I wаnted for at least a month.”