Singer John Newman has told how he landed an audition to play Han Solo in a Star Wars spin-off.
The singer, 28, secured a try-out for last year’s movie, Solo: A Star Wars Story, but did not progress further.
He told A List: “I can’t believe I thought I was going to get that role for my first ever acting gig.
“I thought I was Leonardo DiCaprio or something. I went for it and was amazed when I got an audition.” The role went to Alden Ehrenreich.
The singer burst onto the music scene in 2012 and went on to have a string of hits, including Love Me Again and Feel The Love — a collaboration with Rudimental.
But he was ready to quit when his single Olé failed to make it into the top 100 in 2016. He said: “I was on the phone to my manager and I was saying ‘I want to give up. I’m done’. I wasn’t releasing the kind of music I should have been and there were too many chefs in the kitchen. I was so sick of it.”
He was also diagnosed with a brain tumour for the second time and had to take a break from music while he had treatment.
He is back with a new single, Feelings, which he describes as a return to “sing-along bangers”. He added: “I never want to experience the feeling of having a flop again. I have to reconnect with people.”
Cannes 2018: Solo - A Star Wars Story Premiere
