Kurt Russel's Screen Test As Han Solo

I've really liked a number of Kurt Russel's movies over the years, especially the b-grade action films he made with John Carpenter in the 1980s like Escape From New York.  But he's actually had a long and varied career in Hollywood, and one that continues to this day.  He was initially a child actor in the 1960s, appearing on screen with Elvis Presley in his 1963 film It Happened At the World's Fair, and he was also in a 1965 episode of Gilligan's Island apparently. 


A lesser known part of his career, perhaps, is that he auditioned for the role of Han Solo in the original 1977 film Star Wars.  The part ultimately went to Harrison Ford, of course.  But embedded below is 6 minutes of Kurt Russel's original 1975 screen test.  The video is a little dark, and the actor playing the role of Luke Skywalker sounds distractingly like a grown up Fred Savage (of Wonder Years fame).  But this screen test is interesting nonetheless, not least because of the differences between this script and the final movie script.  There are also several unintentionally funny moments, I thought. At about the 2 minute mark, Luke explains to Han that he can't pay Han the other 5,000 Credits he has promised him. Kurt Russel asks angrily, "Who's gonna pay me then?"  Luke leans forward toward Russel, almost whispering, and says, "I think there's some things we should talk about...."  And then there's this long awkward pause....