This is a part of our STAR WARS: The Last Jedi series which opens in theaters on December 15, 2017. As a reminder we partnered with Disney on this series to give you the insiders view of the Star Wars” The Last Jedi press junket and now the The Star Wars: The Last Jedi Global press day. All opinions are mine alone.
The day started off with a Q&A hosted by Anthony Breznican with the cast: Mark Hamill (“Luke Skywalker”), Daisy Ridley (“Rey”), John Boyega (“Finn”), Oscar Isaac (“Poe Dameron”), Adam Driver (“Kylo Ren”),Domhnall Gleeson (“General Hux”), Gwendoline Christie (“Captain Phasma”), Andy Serkis (“Supreme Leader Snoke”), Laura Dern (“Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo”), Kelly Marie Tran (“Rose Tico”) and Director Rian Johnson.
Before we go any further, can I tell you how exciting it was to be so close to Mark Hamill! If you remember, I am one of the original Star Wars fans and it was extremely difficult to stay professional and not rush the stage! But I was good.
Anthony Brezican: Well, for some of the cast who was in The Force Awakens, how would you say this film feels differently?
MARK HAMILL: My answer will be in direct proportion to the amount of screen time I have.
JOHN BOYEGA: I just think the story’s moving forward. I just feel like J.J. had a blueprint, a foundation of Force Awakens that was pretty good and now it’s about moving forward with the story and just challenging the characters and then all the characters are under intense pressure, and so it’s a time which everyone has their own specific reckoning, and it’s all different. It’s a lot going on. I’ve only watched it once and the first thing is that I want to watch it again because of the amount of information and Easter eggs in there as well.
OSCAR ISAAC: I think the thing as well is that often with the second chapter in a story of three, because the first one kind of sets the tone and the world and the new characters, introduced them, in the second one you don’t have to spend so much time doing that, you can really just delve into the story, into what’s happening, like John said, to the conflict of each of the characters. I think what Rian’s done so incredibly well is that he’s challenged deeply every single character, including the droids, you know, with like the biggest challenges they’ve ever faced, and that’s how you’re able to really get to learn about them, on all sides of the spectrum, from light to dark. You know, it’s like he’s found a way to get to the central point of that character and try to challenge them as best as he can. I think it’s really amazing what he’s done.
DAISY RIDLEY: The biggest thing for me when I read the script, because you know, even though you’re trying to avoid what people are saying, it’s hard to, and because people responded well to John and I as a team, I was a bit nervous about not being a team so much in this one. So I think for me personally it was a challenge. The film was a challenge and I don’t know what it was like for anyone else, but to be in different combinations of people.
The death of Han Solo is a huge moment in The Force Awakens, how impactful is it on the characters who knew him in previous films?
John Boyega I think we’re just keeping it moving, to be honest with you, man. It’s true, the pressure’s on man, you know, there’s no time.
Oscar Isaac You know, it’s a dire situation, it’s critical. The resistance is on its last legs. You know, they’re trying to survive.
Daisy Ridley Rey, as a character has been alone for a really long time and she’s really open to like love and friendship, so Finn and BB-8 come along and it’s like this amazing adventure. And then Han, like without trying to, she seeks something from him because there’s an intimacy and there’s a sort of figure of something she’s never dreamed of for her, that gets, you know, snatched away, and she’s understanding everything’s new to her, so she’s understanding things in a different way.
What is it that we will be walking away learning from The Last Jedi?
Adam Driver I think that’s a personal kind of thing, for probably some it will be nothing, for others. […] What is rewarding about it is realizing that you all are having a different experience but at the same time the same experience.
Rian Johnson You know, I think these movies to some extent are always about […] the transition from childhood into adulthood, and finding your place in the world, and you have these new powers that you’re feeling inside yourself for the first time, you don’t know what to do with them, you don’t know who it is you’re going to get help from, who’s going to be unreliable, who’s not.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi has four strong women, unlike only Princess Leia in the originals.
Did they Geek Out?
Kelly and Laura, I know you’re there to do a job and be professional but is there any part of you that geeks out a little bit when you start working on a Star Wars film?
Laura Dern: Every part.
Kelly Marie Tran: Every part. I’m trying not to cry right now ‘cause this is so weird and different. I feel like Rian has said this before but it definitely feels like you have to find a way to just do the work and kind of block everything out, but then C-3PO comes up and you’re like oh, my god. So you’re constantly figuring out how can I figure out how to work in this environment and then you’re like, but also this is awesome. So it’s kind of a balance, right?
Laura Dern: And just to add to that, what Rian spoke to, that he does so beautifully as well as Andy was describing the intimacy of discovering each character’s conflict, which is just extraordinary, given the enormity of the cast, that he gave us that in the experience of the workplace, and it was shocking, and Oscar and I always talked about just how stunned we were that we were in such a massive environment and did feel like we were, you know, making a indie movie and you were always encouraging us to try things and explore character, and explore this duality of the light and the dark within characters, the movie speaks to so beautifully, not just that there are alternative universes but that that lies within, which seems to be the place that George Lucas first started the mythology of that, and it’s just so brilliant.
What doe is mean to them to have so many more women in this film?
There are many more female characters in Star Wars The Last Jedi, what does that mean to you?
Daisy Ridley I knew it was a big deal, but the response was so beyond anything I could have imagined, that I’m still like – it was only afterwards I was like, oh, oh yeah.
Kelly Marie Tran I think that it feels like both an honor and a responsibility at the same time.
Laura Dern I was moved by the fact that he (director Rian Johnson) really wanted her strength to first lead with a very deep femininity and to see a powerful female character also be feminine is something that moves away from a stereotype that’s sometimes perceived in strong female characters must be like the boys.
Gwendoline Christie You get to see women that are not being strong just because they’re acting like men. They’re doing something else.
The Last Jedi features a lot of strong female characters. That is going to mean some to the little girls in the audience. I know it already inspires my daughter. Daisy, Kelly, Laura, and Gwendoline share what that means to them:
Daisy Ridley The response was so beyond anything I could have imagined. Obviously that’s a testament to Kathy, J.J., Michael, Larry, everyone who created the characters in the beginning. I think what’s great about everyone is it’s not like she’s a girl, this is a guy, this is anything, it’s just great characters that happily are falling into broader categories now, so I’m thrilled.
Kelly Marie Tran I think that it feels like both an honor and a responsibility at the same time. I feel like from the beginning when I initially found out I got this role, I just felt like I wanted to do the whole thing justice, and I’m so excited that the girls in this movie kick some butt! (Laughs)
Laura Dern I was moved by the fact that he (Rian) really wanted her strength to first lead with a very deep femininity. To see a powerful female character also be feminine is something that moves away from a stereotype that’s sometimes perceived in strong female characters must be like the boys.
Gwendoline Christie I wasn’t cast in the first Star Wars film yet when I heard about the casting, and I was utterly delighted to see that there was a more representative selection of actors that were going to be in these incredible Star Wars films. Everything that my amazing colleagues say is absolutely right. You get to see women that are not being strong just because they’re acting like men. I’m delighted that something as legendary as Star Wars has decided to be modern and to reflect our society more as it is.
Oscar Issac As a guy I’d like to say that for me the most formative people in my life have been women. And so that has shaped my destiny so much and so to see that reflected in the film is really, really a beautiful thing. It is more true to real life and what’s happening now, but what’s always happened which is, you know, they’re the ones, that shape you.
What was the impact of Carrie Fisher on themselves as well as the generations who have grown up with Princess Leia.
Gwendoline Christie Well, she was very significant because I was first shown A New Hope when I was six, and I remember thinking, wow, that character’s really different. She’s really interesting, she’s really smart, she’s really funny, she’s courageous, she’s bold, she doesn’t care what people think, and she isn’t prepared to be told what to do. And she doesn’t look the same as a sort of homogenized presentation of a woman that we had been used to seeing. So that was really instrumental to me as someone that didn’t feel like they fitted that homogenized view of what a woman was supposed to be, that you could be an individual and celebrate yourself and be successful without giving yourself over, without necessarily making some sort of terrible, huge compromise. I was very excited when I was shown just the basic element of the costume (for Phasma), and here we were seeing a character where her femininity was not delineated in terms of the shape of her body, in terms of her physical attractiveness. Those elements, that weird random group of elements which we’re born with in some kind of odd lottery and then we’re judged on in society. And I was just delighted to be able to have that opportunity.
Laura Dern We always had with Carrie, not just Leia, her wisdom, and you know, people speak about people who are brave or fearless, but beyond that, I’ve known luckily a few people that would hold those descriptions, but not that they would be without shame. That’s what moved me the most about the icon she gave us, but also what she gave us individually and personally which is to Carrie, who she was so directly and to be without shame, and to share her story, and to expect nothing less from any of us.
Daisy Ridley I don’t think I can really follow that, except to just say Carrie’s daughter Billie is I think all of those qualities. She’s smart and funny and shameless and wonderful.
Kelly Marie Tran I think that something about Carrie that I really look up to is, and something I didn’t realize until recently, was just how much courage it takes to truly be yourself when you’re on a public platform or when possibly a lot of people will be looking at you. She was so unapologetic and so openly herself and that is something that I am really trying to do, and it’s hard. What an example, you know? And I am so fortunate to have met her and I think that she will really live on forever.
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI hits theaters everywhere December 15th!
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Don’t miss the previous articles
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Exclusive Interview with Gwendoline Christie “Captain Phasma”
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