Now that Atlanta has wrapped up its wildly successful inaugural season, creator and star Donald Glover is preparing for two more presumed successes: becoming the new Lando Calrissianand the release of the new Childish Gambino albumAwaken, My Love. Speaking with Billboard Thursday, Glover detailed his childhood connection with the Star Wars universe and explained his new album's creative similarities to his critically acclaimed FX series.
"When the world found out I got the part is when I found out," Glover said of the Lando score. "Growing up, I was pretty into it. I got taken out of school to see Episode I. It was the first toy I had. The Dagobah system has definitely played a part in my dreams." For those not in the know, the "Dagobah system" was Yoda's house.
The news of Glover's Star Wars casting came just as Atlanta was bagging nearly unanimous praise and record-smashing viewership, a series he worked on while also writing and recording the new Gambino album. "I never really saw them as different things," Glover told Billboard of how the seemingly separate projects were related.
Glover is currently working on the second season of Atlanta, the writing process of which he describes as simply hanging out. "I don't like offices," Glover said. "We could probably have one at the Fox lot, but then it wouldn't feel like hanging, and that's crucial for making interesting stuff. I don't want it to feel like a television show."
Though Glover isn't spilling any details on the next season, he did say that fans probably shouldn't expect something familiar. "I don't want to give people the slow drip of the same thing," Glover said. "That's what people pay for now: 'Just give me that thing over and over again.' I'm like, 'Yeah, I don't think you want that.'" Peep the full interview here.
