this is "nightline." tonight, a high-flying hollywood executive and loving father suddenly stricken with a mysterious affliction. his organs failing. escaping with his life. but losing a leg. and about to lose a hand. when he signed up for a ground-breaking human hand transplant surgery. the fight of his life. and the astonishing triumph. plus, k-beauty. unmasking the secrets of korean cosmetics. snail mucous, donkey milk? could these be the keys to the fountain of youth? >> oh, wow, do you see the milk coming out? >> we follow the flow from the source to your stores. and bitcoin rich. >> are you a millionaire? >> yes. many times over.

>> meet the 26-year-old living the high-tech high life after betting big on bitcoin. but is the bubble about to burst? and later, flying solo. inside the new out of this galaxy "star wars" adventure. >> had a really good feeling about this. >> here now, juju chang. >> good evening. thanks for joining us. tonight, you're about to meet a hard-charging hollywood executive whose life came to a screeching halt. a mysterious illness bringing him to the brink of death. but his condition and his determination made him the perfect candidate for a ground-breaking human hand transplant. his dogged fight back captured in emotionally raw home videos. some viewers may find them disturbing. but his triumph unflinching. >> this is one of the most exciting things that could happen. ready? >> okay, ready. high five. >> okay.

>> reporter: conch, little moments like this are in reach. >> there's thog more independent than being to drive around by yourself. >> reporter: i was with him in may when for the first time in years this father got behind the wheel of his own car on the open road. >> i felt good live but right now it's electrifying, humming on the inside. i think that the nerves are growing back. >> that's amazing, your hand is humming on the inside. >> reporter: his new hand coming to life. because three years ago, the hand he was born with looked like this. >> i would categorize it as not good. >> reporter: the successful hollywood executive defied unthinkable odds after a two-year medical odyssey that left him narrowly escaping death and getting a new left hand in a remarkable feat of science. with his girlfriend of seven years at his side, jennifer gunkel documenting her own raw

emotions. and watching his determination to heal. >> boom. >> that's awesome. >> reporter: but then he was a 49-year-old entertainment executive at the top of his game, hanging with jewel, publicizing their movie "ring of fire." he was behind the miniseries "the kennedys" starring katie holmes. jonathan was on his way to a reality television conference in d.c. when he was suddenly slammed with what seemed like the flu. >> felt like i had been hit by a truck. and i was thinking, please try to help me get cleaned up, get me out of here somehow. >> because you were going to power through? >> power through. it was a very important trip for my team and they'd been preparing a long time, i needed to be there. >> reporter: he trove to the e.r. where he got a shot of morphine before dragging himself onto a cross country flight. he arrived in d.c., but within 24 hours, he was fighting for his life. in icu at george washington

university hospital. it was an unthinkable plot twist for a movie producer who never drank, never smoked, and exercised like a fiend. now doctors telling him to text everyone he loves, believing he has only hours to live. >> i made a very conscious decision with the last moment of consciousness i had not to text my daughter. because when they told me that i had a small chance of living i said, there's no way i'm putting her through that twice, and if i do live, she never has dto go through that. so i didn't do it. when i decided not to, that was the moment i decided i can't die, i can't. i can't do it. she shouldn't grow up without her daddy. >> reporter: doctors had no idea what was killing him, but they feared his body was falling into septic shock. so doctors sedate him, putting him into a medically induced coma. >> i wish i could have talked to him. i just wish i would have gotten here sooner. >> reporter: jennifer rushing to

his bedside. >> they're testing for everything, and everything's come back negative. >> reporter: his odds of surviving, just 10%. >> it was described to me as multiple organ failure. his lungs, even his heart, kidneys. he had to have dialysis. everything was shutting down. >> reporter: doctors later diagnosing jonathan with hemofigocytictosis, hlh, a rare and aggressive disorder none of his doctors had ever confronted. jennifer had been entrusted to make life or death-decisions for the divorced, devoted dad. the kind who would never miss a father/daughter dance. >> i kept thinking about his daughter. it's like, she can't be without her dad. i was thinking, every moment, every decision i made was like, this little girl. >> but essentially you held his life in your hands. >> i know. and that was a really scary thing for me.

>> reporter: during his coma, hovering between life and death, jonathan says he experienced powerful nightmares. one presented him with a critical choice. >> a voice, a very deep, very distinct male voice, i don't know if it was my own consciousness, if it was a doctor by my bedside, if it was god -- i really don't know even to this day. and it said, if you do decide you want to live, it's going to be the most vicious, painful, awful fight every day for the rest of your life. >> and you were up for the fight? >> well, yeah. when he put that it way i was like, that i get. so i said yes. >> reporter: the instinct to fight -- >> stay down! >> reporter: something instilled in him as a young boy. mesmerized by the movie about a tenacious boxer, an underdog named rocky. >> my dad took me to a drive-in

movie when i was 11 years old, and we saw "rocky." from that moment forward, i just knew it was inside of me way more than i had ever thought before that day. >> you took "rocky" as gospel? >> it is gospel. first of all, he didn't win. rocky didn't win. people don't think about that. it's about doing the work. it's about putting everything you have into it. if you just literally do your best at everything, that's really all you can do. >> reporter: after his near-death experience, he woke with a newfound appreciation for what was important in his life. but after two and a half weeks, the damage, severe. his body had shut off oxygen to his outer limbs to preserve his organs. his hands and feet were starting to die. ni necrosis and gangrene setting in. >> what does the pain feel like in your hands? >> it feels like somebody's holding a bic lighter underneath my fingertips all day, every day. >> reporter: doctors wanted to

amputate, but jennifer intervened. >> when they came and said, we want to amputate, i immediately said, absolutely not. >> reporter: she began searching for other options and stumbled upon the possibility of a hand transplant. turns out ucla boasts pioneering hand transplant research. only 85 have ever been attempted globally. and a world-renowned hand surgeon, dr. cody azari, had been scouring the world for his next patient. >> i was looking for someone that was motivated, that was healthy, and had not had his amputations done. >> when you have transplantation, they oftentimes will put you through psychiatric exercises. and one of the questions they asked me is, why do you want another hand? and i thought, well -- i mean, you have two, you know. i think the world's built for two. and i can handle it. >> reporter: dr. azari and his team began by first amputating jonathan's left hand, preserving his nerves and blood vessels for the eventual transplant.

but dr. azari also told him to get stronger and healthier. he was also gauging something else. what did you size up about his mental toughness? >> his mental toughness was what actually got me to fall in love with his personality. he is an eternal optimist like i've never seen before. >> reporter: but the eternal optimist faced a grim reality, that his right leg could not be saved. >> that was an extraordinarily painful moment. she was crying with me. it was -- it was a real get it out cry. the admission that we had lost that battle was really tough for both of us. >> reporter: he may have been missing a leg, a hand, all of his fingers and toes -- but even in defeat -- >> come on, baby, push it! >> reporter: jonathan kept fighting in order to qualify for that hand transplant. >> you're literally getting better. >> reporter: the first milestone? learning to walk with his new prosthetic. >> there you go.

>> what was that like that moment? what went through your mind as he took those first steps? >> don't let him fall. >> jennifer was crying. i could see scott in the mirror, he was behind me, i could see this big smile on his face. >> it was a heart-warming, chilling, just almost incomprehensible. >> reporter: finally, jonathan was ready for that hand transplant. but along the way, they wanted to make good on one particular promise. >> what was your wedding day life are like for you? >> our wedding day was very sweet. it was really noneventful, which is the way we wanted to be. it was a 30-second ceremony. it was joyous and happy. and we really didn't want anything to change. >> reporter: their honeymoon period involved waiting for the ideal donor. >> you need to match for size, you need to match for color, you need to match for hair pattern. >> reporter: it took seven months to get the call. >> how are you feeling about your hand transplant surgery? >> very peaceful. and hopeful that everything goes

well. >> reporter: and then the complex surgery. 24 attendants, countless nerve endings, veins, arteries microscopically stitched together. >> hand transplants are marathon surgeries because there's so many structures that need to be repaired. nerves are like coaxial cables except there's 92 red to red, yellow to yellow, green to gren connection. you have to figure out how they fit together so the parts of the nerve that are for sensation match up and the parts of nerve for motor function match up. initial fears are that the vessels are going to clot and blood is not going to move through the hand. >> there's no margin for error? >> there's no margin for error. >> reporter: even if the surgery is a success, will he be able to control his new hand? or touch or feel again? when we come back. not with frog! frogtape is the only painter's tape treated with patented paintblock technology.

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juju chang reports. after a marathon 17-hour surgery, jonathan kotch emerging with a new left hand. >> it was jennifer's birthday when i got out of surgery. she said, i just want one thing, i just want you to move one of your fingers. and i didn't think there was any chance i could. but i thought about it. and it moved. >> that's amazing.

>> for the rest of the day, any time anybody came to the room, doctor, nurses, friends, family, whatever, he'd go, hey! >> as soon as we walked into request jonathan's room, he gives me the thumbs-up like the fonz used to do. i'm like this guy, he's absolutely perfect. >> reporter: dr. azari thought the surgery team was perfect. the team of doctors and nurses from competing hospitals successfully attaching the donor hand to jonathan's. >> doc, will i be able to play the piano? >> reporter: the recovery was far more treacherous than he'd anticipated. what was the toughest part of the transplant? >> i woke up, my mind wasn't right. i wasn't breathing as well as everybody had wanted me to. i was telling jennifer, i'm drifting away and i can't seem to get back, i can't get back into my life and in control of what's happening with me. >> sounds like that's the first time self-doubt crept into your

mind? >> yeah. >> it wasn't a walk in the park? >> no. all the work that i had done since getting home, working out in my wheelchair, trying to crawl up and down the stairs on my elbows and knees -- all those things i did to rebuild myself, they came right back into play having to try to make sense of the hand transplant. >> reporter: but ever the fighter, jonathan soldiered on. >> one weekend he's gripping a tennis ball and throwing it. next thing you know, he picks up a glass of water and he takes a drink and he goes, ahh! >> you feel fierce and powerful. you just do. and so when i grabbed that bottle and i was able to hold it, even though it was pretty shaky, i was like, i feel fierce and powerful, this is incredible feeling. >> reporter: movement by movement, grip by grip. soon thrilling milestones left

him giddy. >> jonathan has met or, in the vast majority of cases, exceeded all of my expectations. i told him, jonathan, it's going to take you maybe a year and a half to two years before you can tie your shoelaces. at two months he sends a video of him tying his shoelaces. >> reporter: the total cost estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. covered not by insurance, but by ucla, in the name of research which could end up helping so many others. >> feels good. >> i bet it does. >> it does. >> reporter: now within reach, moments like learning to drive again. >> all right, here we go. >> whoa. >> we're out of here. >> on the open road. >> it really did liberate him. now he has the confidence and is ready to drive again. couldn't tie his shoe before, now he can do that. he couldn't button things before. it just helps, you know, with hygiene, taking care of yourself in that way. >> was it worth it? all the pain, the rehab, the everything for the transplant? >> it was 100% worth it.

i'd do it again. i would tell anybody to do it. you can't imagine the change in my life as i regained my independence.orte he' jno to regain his sense of temperature, differentiating between hot and cold. and the even bigger triumphs. it was his dream to play tennis again with his daughter, ariana. the righty now swinging a racket with his newly acquired left hand. when do what does tennis represent to you? >> i love the competition. there's nothing i like than to play as hard as i can, as well as i can, when it's over with, no matter what happens, it's been an incredible experience. once in a while you catch lightning in a bottle at a tennis match. >> oh there you go! >> and it's everything you have. and i love that. >> how good have you gotten with your new hand? >> i'm not great. you know. >> you're saying i have a chance? >> you definitely have a chance. left-handed, it hasn't been

going great. i throw my racket sometimes accidentally because i'm still working on that. >> i do too. >> it's not as difficult as i thought it was going to be, it's just going to take repetition. >> oh, i thought i was out of here. >> thanks, juju, great job. >> reporter: now the man who many described as a hard-charging workaholic, a man whose life was roadmaped by a hollywood movie, looking for other stories. >> it's great, we should crack some of those. >> reporter: including his own, to inspire others. >> good to see you. >> nice to see you, thank you. >> if your life story or this last chapter in your life story were in a pitch meeting to you what kind of story is it? triumph over adversity story? love story? >> you can name it all. it's a triumph of human spirit story, not just my standpoint, our standpoint, all my friends who rallied so hard. just the amount of love and prayers and all those things that were coming to me that i could actually feel them. i felt lifted up by them.

i know how many people were caring about me. >> seven, eight, nine, 30 -- >> you want to talk about fierce? my girl's fierce. >> reporter: the next chapter of this story now left in jonathan's capable hand. >> five, six, seven, eight, nine -- beauty. good job, dude. great job. up next, lucy hale, drew barrymore, emma stone all sharing the same korean beauty secrets. now we're sharing them with you.

"nightline" continues. with juju chang.

in korea, being cool isn't just an attitude, it's a business plan. the explosion of k-pop, korean dramas, and the worldwide k-beauty market was largely dreamed up and funded by the korean government. and now thanks to their efforts you might be rubbing snail mucous all over your face. >> i love applying face masks on days where my face is feeling especially dry. >> reporter: it's a multi-billion dollar beauty industry. sweeping the world ask taking over the internet. >> oh! i feel it. >> yeah, i hear it. >> i feel like a bubble goddess. >> that looks so weird. >> reporter: that's actress lucy hale behind the bubble mask. and drew barrymore sharing her wrinkle-fighting secrets. emma stone puckering up. celebrities and everyday folks turning to k-beauty, or korean beauty products, in the endless quest for ageless skin. touting exotic ingredients like

snail mucum and donkey mill that can they claim can restore damaged skin. k-beauty exports more than doubles in two years to over $4 billion in 2016 alone. ♪ k-beauty is the latest international craze from the land that brought you k-pop. we traveled halfway around the world. turns out the fountain of youth might just be at this donkey farm 30 miles outside seoul, south korea. >> i'm going to try my hand at being a milk maid. >> reporter: donkey's milk, unlikely key ingredient in many k-beauty elixirs. >> i don't know who's more nervous, her or me. one, two -- one, two -- one, two -- i think i got i'm doing it, i'm doing it, look at me! oh, wow, do you see the milk coming out? that's amazing. thank you, chaco!

>> reporter: farmer kim logic lost his family farm more than a decade ago when the economy here tanked. that's when they switched from dairy cows to dankys. look at all their friends! hello! >> reporter: and because k-beauty is big business, it's helped put his farm back on the map. how much of his business goes to k-beauty products? [ speaking korean ] wow, 100%? is it profitable for him? it's good business? [ speaking korean ] >> reporter: it's not just donkey milk. snails are making a comeback in korea thanks to beauty products. so how many do you have total? [ speaking korean. >> a lot? >> reporter: snail mucous in the world of k-beauty is liquid gold. how do they extract the mucin?

[ speaking korean ] two or three days? oh, i see. >> reporter: they wouldn't let us film the extraction due to trade secrets. but i did get a much more hands-on experience. no snails were hurt in the production of this story. it feels -- oh -- fabulous. after these ingredients are delicately gathered they're scientifically formulated in a lab. donkey milk is rumored to have age-defying benefits. but there's little science to back that up, though legend has it cleopatra bathed in it. >> i am the queen of egypt and i choose to remain on egyptian soil. >> and so when it comes to the active ingredients what makes donkey milk chemically good for women's skin? >> reporter: snail mucin does

have some science that suggests it cab help repair damaged skin. while the k-beauty craze may only seem skin deep, critics argue it's part of a concerted effort by the korean government to export cool. >> korean cool is above everything else a fabrication. >> reporter: uni hong wrote "the bird of korean cool." >> korea's basically the only country in the world that decided as a national agenda to make itself into a cool country. the korean cool concept started out kind off a lark. but it became a government necessity after the asian financial crisis. >> reporter: south korea realized their economy was too dependant on a few mega-conglomerates like samsung and hyundai. >> one of the ideas floated was focus on popular culture because you don't need a big

infrastructure to enter this business. you don't have to build factories. you just need time and talent. >> the korean government decides to invest in pop culture? >> yes. >> reporter: and surprise, surprise -- it worked. they invested in korean soap operas, exporting what became a cultural juggernaut. then came the k-pop explosion. ♪ singing and precision dancing its way across asia and beyond. sowing the seeds for the k-beauty phenomenon, using red-hot k-pop stars like boy band bts members to sell beauty products. >> what's unique about this phenomenon is korea just created this ecosystem where all the parts feed each other, and they're not in competition. >> are the k-pop singers brand ambassadors for k-beauty? >> if you were a pop star you basically get farmed out by your

record label to the beauty label. in korea the record label owns everything that the person does. they kind of can force you to represent the face of the products. >> reporter: companies like sooae package millions of products for the united states from factories like these. >> these are the completed masks. once they're all built, sealed, they get put into this machine. they get sent to the other room where the ladies pack them. >> in this one production facility, they major anywhere from 200,000 to 500,000 masks a day. over the course of months, we're talking about 10 million face masks shipped all over the world. eventually ending up in big box retail stores like walmart. in a country obsessed with appearances, it's not surprising that the beauty industry has risen to the top. after all, 1 in 5 south korean women have had cosmetic surgery. >> something like 20% of korean women between the ages of 30 and 50 have had botox.

>> reporter: all of which seems to contribute to the allure of korean beauty. now on sale for the world to buy. up next, the meteoric rise of bitcoin. but is the bubble about to burst? late checkout... ...down-alternative pillows... ...and of course, price. tripadvisor helps you book a... ...hotel without breaking a sweat. because we now instantly... ...search over 200 booking sites ...to find you the lowest price... ...on the hotel you want. don't sweat your booking. tripadvisor. the latest reviews. the lowest prices.

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"nightline" continues. here again, juju chang. >f you'd been svy enough to invest coin stash might be worth over $10 million. tonight meet some bitcoin millionaires who made those big bets back when it counted and are now sitting pretty.

so should you try to cash in? here's abc's chief business economics and technology correspondent rebecca jarvis. >> is this it? with the line outside? >> it looks small. >> reporter: it's a weeknight in san francisco. but you'd never know it. the music thumping, the drinks flowing, and jeremy gardner is holding court. but jeremy isn't a tv star or music mogul. >> before anything, it's a movement -- >> reporter: he's been dubbed a crypto-celebrity. silicon valley his kingdom, and bitcoin a source of his riches. are you a millionaire? >> yes, many times over. >> bitcoin. >> bitcoin. >> bitcoin the cryptocurrency. >> bitcoin, the digital currency you've probably heard something about at this point. >> reporter: those stories about early investors striking it rich, hitting gold. remember those guys from "the social network," the winkelvoss

twins? they put $11 million into bitcoin in 2013. now they're billionaires. what exactly is it? >> a made-up currency? >> i don't know what bitcoin is. >> we have enough trouble with money in the world as it is. >> reporter: bitcoin is the world's most popular cryptocurrency. it's a digital currency that you could use like cash, but unlike other currencies, it isn't backed by any government. you don't keep it in a bank or carry it in your pocket. it exists solely online. you can use it to get a hotel room on expedia, buy furniture on overstock, or in theory, pay someone directly for a cup of coffee. but coin has experienced an astronomical rise in value. when it first started, you could pick up a single bitcoin for less than a penny. last year, that same bitcoin would have cost you almost $20,000. at one point. but it's been extremely volatile in terms of its price, leading some to question, is it all just

hype? >> i think it's a sort of get rich quick scheme, a vast man it's of it's hype. >> reporter: but the hype that's led to wild price swings has not deterred the crypto die-hards like those we met earlier this year in san francisco. we're on our way to the crypto castle to meet up with gejeremy the king of crypto. i'm going to buy $100 worth of bitcoin, meaning i get .008, and then some. so this is it. we're at the crypto castle. bitcoin preferred here. >> hello? >> hey, it's ra beck character we're here with "nightline." hi, how are you? i'm rebecca. >> pleasure. >> so this is it? >> this is the crypto castle. >> reporter: think of it as a dorm room meets think tank. led by jeremy. jeremy calls himself a venture capitalist and cryptocurrency

evangelist. how about bedrooms? it's a three bedroom but we've made some extra space. and so we just constantly have people coming in and out that are kind of transi don't want. crypto nomads. >> crypto nomads stay in this space? for the people who live with you what do they pay? >> sub $1,600. >> reporter: every time you use your bitcoin, that transaction is recorded in a public digital ledger called the blockchain. >> the blockchain office is a revolutionary approach to security that's been all but unhackable. >> reporter: it's become a part of college curriculums. this class at new york university. >> we started with about 30 students in 2014. now 235 this term. >> let's make all the blocks 2 megabytes -- >> there's no question cryptocurrency has crossed over into the mainstream. >> reporter: a far cry from its dark past. bitcoin, wums the preferred currency to buy drugs and black market items on silk road.

the fbi shutting down silk road, seizing 173,000 bitcoins which would be worth over $1.5 billion today. >> we're here with "nightline," abc. >> reporter: back at the crypto castle, we meet crypto nomads. what got you into it? >> i was trying to figure a way to send money to china. western union channeling 12.5% fees for transactions under $1,000 and i was making $15 an hour at the time. so a 12% transaction fee on $1,000 is an hour worth of work for me after taxes. and i was like, that sucks. >> what brought you to this house? >> i ran out of usd. i needed a place to live. so i needed -- knew jeremy would let me pay rent in crypto. >> reporter: one issue with using bitcoin is its value fluctuates wildly. >> no one's going to buy a cup of coffee for $5 when that $5 could be worth $50 tomorrow. >> reporter: consider the crypto

castle. one bitcoin would have cost you $13,583 first thing that morning. by the end of the day that same bitcoin, $10,351. meaning her rent could swing almost 25% in just a few hours. do you understand why people are skeptical of bitcoin? >> oh, of course. how can you not be? it's just -- looks like this speculative asset that isn't backed by anything. but then the more you learn about the history of money, the more you realize it's perfectly sound. look at the u.s. it's backed by our faith in the government to act in our economic best interests. >> it's backed by our faith in the government that it's a sound government and that there's an economy and a structure behind it. >> that makes total sense if you live in the united states or the eu or even china, probably. but if you're in venezuela? the value of your dollar there drops exponentially each and every day.

bitcoin makes a whole lot of sense. >> reporter: even some of the biggest believers caution against betting it all on bitcoin. grant savatia made over $1 million in bitcoin, recently wrote a piece advising against investing in it. >> you only have $1,000, $5,000, this is not the best place to put your money. view it as a speculative investment. why would you put your entire investment in something that isn't backed by anything? overall you need to have a more conservative, better investment strategy for the long-term. >> do you not think there's a little chance that we're in a bubble right now? >> it's possible to both be in a bubble and undervalued at the same time. it just depends on your time horizon. >> reporter: for jeremy, high in his castle, he's confident there's a crypto future just beyond the horizon. >> in 2018, we'll see real-world deployments of blockchain technology across enterprise, in real estate, health care, government. and i think at that point this technology will become much more real to people.

>> reporter: as for our buy-in, one month ago we bought $100 worth of bitcoin, now it's worth $73. up next, take a ride with the fastest pilot in the galaxy far, far away. the director and stars take us behind the scenes of "solo: a star wars story." under your tape... not with frogtape! frogtape is the only painter's tape treated with patented paintblock technology. paintblock reacts with the water in latex paint to form a micro-barrier against paint bleed, giving you the sharpest lines possible. get professional results with frogtape... no messy lines, no paint bleed. for sharp lines every time, frog it!

where teams compete to make the right decisions about safe food preparations. our challenge in this round -- read and follow package cooking instructions,

and use a food thermometer. let's see how our teams are doing so far -- team 1? we just got 100 points. we separated our raw food from our cooked food. team 2? we got a 100-point green card for proper hand washing before our meal prep. referee: we've reached a critical safety point in the challenge. okay, team 1, let's check this out. uh-oh, not a safe internal temperature for those hamburgers. that puts everyone at high risk for food-borne illness. you get a red card -- undercooked. always read and follow the package cooking instructions and use a food thermometer. let's see how our winning team cooked it safe and avoided problems. well, i just kept focus on the four food safety steps -- clean, separate, cook, and chill. and we followed the package cooking instructions and took the temperature. can you cook it safe?

"nightline" continues. once again, juju chang. we all know han solo is the renegade hero who always seems to come to the rescue in the nick of time. but when the filming of his origins story stalled out, it was ron howard who came to his rescue, assuming the captain's chair on the movie and pulling off that last-minute victory. abc's chris connelly is with him and the cast. >> three, two, now!

>> reporter: the summer season's biggest back story is here at last. "solo: a star wars story" taking viewers to new worlds in that galaxy far, far away. to tell the origin tale of han solo. the franchise's most charismatic figure. >> you look good. >> reporter: brimming with bravado and derring-do, the role made harrison ford famous with the original "star wars" trilogy. >> i love you. >> i know. >> reporter: four decades later, 28-year-old al dodon ehrenreich feeling good in the cockpit, even when the ride gets bumpy. >> getting to fly the ship, it's really fun. it jumps to light speed, we go into light speed, it's crazy. >> might want to buckle up, baby. >> it looks very crowded in the cockpit when all you guys there.

>> it does? because they told us it wasn't going to look bad. they told us, they're like, it will look more spacious than it is. i was like, really? because my leg is in my face. >> captain landau o calrissian. >> reporter: playing a younger version of suave lando calrissian, man of the hour, donald glover. >> this seat taken? >> nobody's in the seat, it ain't taken, friend. >> i wanted to exude a sense of competitiveness that's honest about the characters. i win through being smooth, he wins through being a cowboy. >> who gave you confidence that you could take on this role? >> no one. the movie doesn't open with hillsideling up to a bar with swagger. it opens in a very different place. he's got a very different feeling. so kind of incorporating all that elements and making it feel like a real performance. >> reporter: with han looking for adventure and a lost love, finding a wookiee bff.

>> 190 years old? you look great! >> chewy. >> wearing a giant fur. >> wearing a huge -- you can't use the restroom when you're wearing it. you can't take it off. >> being chewbacca is about your endurance. >> reporter: solo's on the rise leads are part of a generation of actors introduced to "star wars" movies and merch by their family members. >> my father was a big fan. he gave me the lando toy. i bit the lightsaber off of darth vader and gave to it lando. >> you bit it off th? >> it was connected to his hand. >> you chewed it? >> all the toys that are green lightsaber, when i went to do my kareen test, it was kind of like, oh, i've pretended i was on millennial falcon before, so it felt comfortable and cool. >> thought we were in trouble but it's fine. >> reporter: after being cast, they reached out to the

originators of their roles. >> the main thing for me with meeting harrison, we were about to start the movie, no one had talked to him. it felt weird. i wanted to kind of go and get his blessing on the movie. we talked a lot about his whole career trajectory. it was great. he was just awesome. >> reporter: glover made contact with the original lando, billy dee williams. >> he's like, lando's eclectic, charming. and i was like, okay. he texted me too. >> really? you have his phone number? >> i have his phone number, you don't have harrison's phone number? >> no. >> he didn't want to bro out with you? >> in the end he was like, if you're ever in wyoming, come up. >> me and billy dee, we go to the grove sometimes. hold hands. you know, just talk about life. >> reporter: real life did intru intrude. june 2017, midway through filming, "solo's" original directors phil lord and christopher miller ousted by lucas film, a company statement citing different creative visions as the reason.

ron howard hired to take over. >> ready, and -- action! >> reporter: coming up, ron howard takes the reins of "sol ...you discover paint bleed you under your tape...... not with frogtape! frogtape is the only painter's tape treated with patented paintblock technology. paintblock reacts with the water in latex paint to form a micro-barrier against paint bleed, giving you the sharpest lines possible. get professional results with frogtape... no messy lines, no paint bleed. for sharp lines every time, frog it! hey julie, i know today's critica...a sick day. need...

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"nightline" continues. >> reporter: midway through filming "solo: a star wars story," lucasfilm decided to part ways with original directors phil lord and christopher miller, replacing them with veteran ron howard. >> i didn't need the job. and i wouldn't have done it if i didn't think that it was a great story and a great script and

that they were going to be wonderful in it. >> reporter: howard would hone in on making his solo a rite of passage for its heroic main character. >> i thought that every relationship and every action scene was meant to be a test of han solo. i think the "star wars" movies at their best are full of not jokes, but humor. >> what do you think? well, what do you know. >> reporter: that meant focusing on ehrenreich's performance from the start. >> he was feeling a lot of pressure, what is han solo? how would harrison approach it? so forth. i said, let's dispense with that, take it moment to moment. >> reporter: these days no one is having a moment like donald glover. ♪ thanks to his acclaimed series on fx atlanta. ♪ and under his childish gambino musical alias, his wildly hailed song and music video "this is america." yet for the 34-year-old multi-talent, it's important to stay above the noise. >> those moments are lived.

they're not thought about, they're not processed. they're just lived. and you'll miss the best parts of life. >> reporter: in ron howard, solo has a storyteller who acted for george lucas in "american graffiti," directed for him in "willow," and had his own action film debut in 1977. >> "grand theft auto." didn't gross as much or gain the acclaim of the "star wars" one. i did think of some of those high-speed chases as we were working on "solo." >> reporter: this one ending on hollywood boulevard with a world premiere that featured a red carpet and a millennium falcon on site. >> i've never had a movie where you walk in during the premiere and they clap with you coming into the theater. they're like, don't let us down, bro! >> no pressure, bro, it's just the franchise. thanks for joining us tonight on this special "nightline" in primetime. you can catch us every weeknight, of course, after "jimmy kimmel live" here on abc

this morning on "world news now," a historic performance at the nba finals. >> while lebron may have his eye hurt, steph had his eye on the basket making the whole basketball thing look entirely too easy. our highlights just made. also new words about the first lady who hasn't been seen in public in three weeks after that kidney surgery. over the weekend, the white house making a major announcement about her schedule. and an fbi agent is under investigation because of his moves on the dance floor. he probably didn't mean for his gun to go off hitting someone. will there be a punishment? and put him in, coach. alex rodriguez is ready to play. but did the retired baseball star bring his mitt to the game? it's monday, june 4th. from abc news, this is "world news now."