Joonas Suotamo
Actor
Finland
Biography:
Standing at nearly 7ft tall, Finnish basketball player Joonas Suotamo is perhaps best known to fans around the world for his work as Chewbacca in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and coming soon, Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Suotamo attended Pennsylvania State University (PSU) and played the power forward and center positions for the Penn State Nittany Lions. With childhood interests in music, arts, and movies he studied film and video at PSU.
As a youth, Suotamo performed roles as a stage actor. He was a strong academic performer at Penn State, where he was twice named to the Academic All-Big Ten team, and graduated in 3.5 years with a Bachelor of Arts degree in December 2008 in order to fulfill his Finnish conscription service and to pursue a career in film. He played professionally in Europe for the Espoo team from 2011-2015. In 2015, he was cast as a body double for Chewbacca, originally played by Peter Mayhew, in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And took over the role for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Anime Convention Guest Appearances
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2024
Fan Expo Canada 2024 - August 22-25, 2024 in Toronto, ON, CanadaCancelled Appearance- Fan Expo Chicago 2024 - August 16-18, 2024 in Rosemont, IL
Fan Expo Dallas 2024 - June 7-9, 2024 in Dallas, TXCancelled AppearanceFan Expo Philadelphia 2024 - May 3-5, 2024 in Philadelphia, PACancelled Appearance- MegaCon Orlando 2024 - February 1-4, 2024 in Orlando, FL 2020
Fan Expo Boston 2020 - August 7-9, 2020 in Boston, MAConvention CancelledMegaCon Orlando 2020 - April 16-19, 2020 in Orlando, FLConvention Postponed 2019- Dragon Con 2019 - August 29 - September 2, 2019 in Atlanta, GA
Pensacon 2019 - February 22-24, 2019 in Pensacola, FLCancelled Appearance 2018- MegaCon Orlando 2018 - May 24-27, 2018 in Orlando, FL
- Fan Expo Dallas 2018 - April 6-8, 2018 in Dallas, TX
View Joonas Suotamo on FanCons.com for 29 additional guest appearances