(Credits: Spotify)
Sun 7 December 2025 1:30, UK
Donald Glover is not only one of the most famous artists in the world, but perhaps the most diverse in terms of his various talents, truly embodying the word multi-hypenate.
While he has toured the world as Childish Gambino, Glover has also had a robust career as a standup comedian and comedy writer before eventually finding a recurring role as a cast member on Community.
It was a hilarious comic performance that earned him an avid following, but he was able to take on more serious roles after playing a slick assassin in the acclaimed Prime Video TV reboot of Mr & Mrs Smith.
It’s only fitting that someone who has worked in so many different mediums and genres would have an eclectic group of films that he values most, and when asked about the films that he couldn’t live without by the Toronto Sun, Glover first cited The Godfather, a choice that no one could argue with.
His selection of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 masterpiece isn’t that surprising when considering that he found a way to sneak references from the film into one of the most beloved episodes of Community. In ‘Contemporary American Poultry’, Glover’s Troy closes a door while Chevy Chase’s Pierce kisses Abed’s hand, played by Danny Pudi, mirroring the ending of The Godfather.
Glover also cited Back to the Future as a favourite, which is another film that has been frequently referenced on Community. Although it’s not hard to draw comparisons between Michael J Fox’s performance as Marty McFly and various hotshot characters that Glover has played, he also showed an interest in the manipulation of time and the theme of destiny within the fourth scene of his Emmy Award-winning series Atlanta.
Perhaps the easiest favourite film of his to predict is The Empire Strikes Back, as he has made it no secret that he’s a massive Star Wars fan. Beyond the fact that the instalment is often cited as the best film in the series, it also featured the debut of Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, a character that Glover would take over in Solo: A Star Wars Story. While the film itself drew mixed responses, the praise for his creative reimagining of the classic Star Wars hero was unanimous.
He then proceeded to select The Princess Bride as one of his picks, a film that continues to get better with age, thanks to the great screenplay by William Goldman, which was able to interweave an exciting adventure story within an old-fashioned romance. A reflection of this can be observed in Glover’s career also, which has seen him turn into a compelling romantic lead not dissimilar from Cary Elwes’ role as Wesley, particularly in his charismatic performance as John in Mr & Mrs Smith and as hopeless lover Deni Maroon in Guava Island.
Finally, the most intriguing of the multi-hyphenate’s selected films is Cast Away, the brutal survival classic that featured a career-defining performance by Tom Hanks, as, thus far, there’s nothing in Glover’s credits that would suggest he was specifically influenced by it, but he is still a very young artist who is bound to make even more ambitious projects in the future; so, if Robert Zemeckis is struggling to find funding for his next epic film, then Glover’s involvement might provide the incentive needed to get it greenlit.
Donald Glover’s five all-time favourite movies:
- The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
- Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985)
- The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980)
- The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987)
- Cast Away (Robert Zemeckis, 2000)
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