1. He is best known for his role as Chewbacca in the Star Wars saga, taking over the role from Peter Mayhew, first as a body double, with Star Wars: The Force Awakens .

2. Suotamo attended Pennsylvania State University and played the power forward and center positions for the Penn State Nittany Lions.

3. 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 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.