A couple of years ago, in a casting room not too far away (we’re guessing California), there was concern that Harrison Ford wouldn’t reprise his role as Han Solo in Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens. That bummed out a lot of Star Wars fans, most notably The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams, who then enlisted Star Wars superfan Stephen Colbert in a bid to convince Ford to hop on board—and the rest is soon-to-be cinematic history. But because Ford has been, um, reluctant to dish on the film (and its predecessors), no one has known exactly what it took to bring him around. That was until Colbert decided to reveal the Jedi mind trick, i.e., terrible Han Solo impression, that he and Abrams used on Ford.
In this clip from Tuesday night’s Late Show, which is purportedly footage of that fateful meeting, Colbert interrupts Ford and Abrams’ tête-à-tête to audition for the role of Han Solo. Although he sort of looks the part, the Late Show host’s poor gunslinging ultimately overshadows his accurate mimicking of Ford’s finger-wagging-as-blocking move, which prompts an offended Ford to snap up the role, if only to prevent Colbert from destroying his legacy. But that was all part of the plan, just like the idea for “Han Duo,” which would have seen Ford and Colbert play twins Han and Fran.