Billy Dee Williams recently told Esquire magazine that he uses both male and female pronouns to refer to himself. “I say ‘himself’ and ‘herself,’ because I also see myself as feminine as well as masculine,” said Williams, who is known for playing Lando Calrissian in the “Star Wars” universe. “I think of myself as a relatively colorful character who doesn’t take himself or herself too seriously.”

His comments were widely taken to mean that he had embraced gender-fluid pronouns. But on Tuesday, in an interview with the Times reporter Dave Itzkoff for a forthcoming “Star Wars” article, Williams, 82, said he was not aware of how his words would be interpreted.

“That was a good article, except that thing about gender — what’s it called, gender-fluid?” he said, referring to the Esquire profile. “I had never heard that expression before. But I don’t really know what it means. What does it mean?”

When the term was explained to Williams — that there are people who do not identify as simply men or women — he said, “Well, that’s not what I was talking about. I was talking about, I think that men should get in touch with their female self.”