Star Wars: Han Solo Movie's New Chewbacca Is A Finnish Basketball Player

Star Wars' untitled Han Solo movie has a new Chewbacca actor--and he's a Finnish basketball player.

Joonas Suotamo will replace series stalwart Peter Mayhew to play the Wookiee in the upcoming film. He actually already stood in for Mayhew in Star Wars: The Force Awakens' action scenes, but will now perform the role full-time. Before Episode VII, Suotamo was best known for playing basketball for Penn State Nittany Lions in the USA.

After being revealed as the new Chewbacca in a recent cast photo, the actor write a heartfelt tribute to Mayhew and Chewbacca on Instagram. "Chewbacca is one of the most iconic characters in the history of film," he said. "Peter's guidance and kindness have been invaluable gifts which warmed my spirit and prepared me for this journey. I aspire to make Peter proud and bring Star Wars fans the Chewie they know and love."

Suotamo finished his post by saying, "See you in a galaxy far, far away…"

In other Star Wars news, the untitled Han Solo spinoff recently added Woody Harrelson to the cast, which also includes Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian and Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo himself.

The film takes place during the "early scoundrel days" of Solo and Calrissian, before 1977's A New Hope. It is due out in 2018.

The newest Star Wars movie is Rogue One, which came out in December 2016. The next entry in the series is this December's Star Wars: The Last Jedi.