Glee’s Matthew Morrison: Chewbacca Can’t Write on a Chalkboard to Save His Life

How does Chewbacca make his way into a GleeChristmas? It looks like the Wookiee comes bearing some directorial advice for Artie.

In tonight's episode (8/7c, Fox), Artie (Kevin McHale) will be tasked with directing New Directions' Christmas special, and will get some help from a galaxy far, far away.

Glee's Holiday Special: Who's kissing under the mistletoe?

"A Wookiee comes to him in the middle of the night and speaks to him," series star Matthew Morrison tells TVGuide.com. Morrison got to do double-duty for the special, acting in and directing the episode, "Extraordinary Merry Christmas," which he describes as "nothing like you've ever seen on Glee — or on television — before."

And as previously reported, Han Solo's BFF makes an appearance — but did he take direction well? "He did! He understood me perfectly," Morrison says. "He did have to write on a chalkboard, and that was kinda hard." So Mr. Schue schooled him, right? With his super-seasoned chalkboard writing skills? "Well, he was doing his best!" Morrison laughed. "C'mon, it's hard to hold chalk with those hands."

Report: Pitbull being courted by Glee

The actor said he leapt at the chance to be the boss on the set, and he "hyper-prepared" for the job, storyboarding every scene and going over every last line of dialogue. "I feel like I've seen enough great directors come through Glee -- and enough not-so-great ones — that I felt like I could probably be at least average!" he joked. "By the end of the nine days, I felt like I knew what I was doing." Morrison was also happy to report that only Jane Lynch pretended to give him a hard time.

His favorite moment? The final scene, which he shot outdoors. "It's everyone singing, ringing the Salvation bell. I'm just really proud of the entire episode," Morrison said, adding that the special-within-the-special was shot in black and white in partial homage to an old Judy Garland Show holiday special. "The end is very sweet and sentimental."

Good, because that's what Glee does best. After this week's episode, the seriesreturns with a big ol' Will and Emma (Jayma Mays) episode, "Yes/No," on Jan. 17.