The Force was awakened in 2015, but are fans prepared for the Last Jedi?
Fans have waited in anticipation since December 2015 to find out the fates of Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), but that wait is over in just a few hours. If you still can’t wait that long, The Knockturnal sat ringside at the franchise’s Los Angeles Press Conference and is here to quench your thirst for the latest Star Wars news!
Director Rian Johnson and the rest star-studded cast was escorted to the stage by Stormtroopers. The group included John Boyega (Finn), Daisy Ridley (Rey), Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Laura Dern (Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico), and veteran Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker).
With such a massive film family to live up to, one would think it would be hard to know where to begin on discussing the movie, but the cast all agreed that the energy of shooting was that of “an indie film with a franchise budget.”
New to the cast, Laura Dern (Amilyn Holdo) went into detail, “It’s extraordinary given the size of the cast. It was shocking and awesome. We were stunned by being in such massive sets and [Johnson] was encouraging us to try things and explore character and explore this duality of light and dark within characters. And that’s where George Lucas started the mythology, it was brilliant.”
Johnson both beamed and blushed at the compliment, “I kind of think that feels good, that kind of intimacy of the process,” Johnson replied, “If Laura Dern is telling me that, I might be on the right track.”
Johnson was, however, able to distinguish himself with several choices that deviate from the traditional Star Wars story. For example “The Last Jedi” will pick up exactly from the end of “The Force Awakens” and this time around, the droids will not be our story vessels.
“It’s different,” Johnson teased. “It was different in ‘The Force Awakens,’ also. We don’t have that ‘worm’s eye view.’ With this it’s a different story and had different needs, so we’re with our leads the whole time.”
Another difference is the freedom to explore now that the “set up” is complete. Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron) spoke to that and how it moves the story differently.
“Often with the second chapter in a story of three, because the first one sets the tone and introduces them, in the second one you don’t have to spend so much time doing that. You can delve right into the story and into the conflict of each of the characters,” Isaac added, “[Rian Johnson] has challenged, deeply, every single character, including the droids. These are the biggest challenges they’ve ever faced, and that’s how you learn about the characters on all sides of the spectrum, from light to dark…It’s a dire situation,” Isaac went on,” The Resistance is on its last legs. We’re trying to survive, and the First Order is right on top of us. It is like war. You just have to keep moving to survive, and you feel the momentum of everything that happened in ‘The Force Awakens’ pressing down on you in this film.”
Although according to Adam Driver and (Kylo Ren) and Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), things aren’t smooth sailing for the First Order either.
“I think it’s funny, the huge amount of drama going on in the First Order and the huge amount of bitchy infighting. A united front is difficult for them,” shared Gleeson.
Another exciting and noteworthy question focused on the upswing of amazing women kickass across the galaxy. Newcomer Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico) spoke to joining a film series with so much power behind it.
“When I found out I got the part, I wanted to do the whole thing justice. I’m just so excited,” Tran grinned, “The girls in this movie kick so much butt. It is so good and I can’t wait for everyone to see it.”
Of course, one bad-ass woman who could not join the conference was Carrie Fisher. “The Last Jedi” will be Fischer’s final film and the cast spoke to, not only the impression Fischer left on them but also the impression that Princess Leia left on the world.
Both Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma) and Daisy Ridley (Rey) spoke beautifully to Fisher’s legacy.
“She ( Fisher) was very significant because I was first shown a new hope when I was 6. And I remember thinking, ‘Wow! That character is really different.’ I watched TV and film obsessively from such a young age, but it stayed with me through my formative years,” explained Christie, “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 who didn’t feel like they fit that homogenized view of what a woman was supposed to be, that there was inspiration there. That you could be an individual, and celebrate yourself, and be successful without…making some kind of terribly huge compromise…”
“I don’t know if I can really follow that,” joked Ridley,”But I think Carrie’s daughter, Billie is all of those qualities. She’s smart and funny and shameless and wonderful. And I think Carrie bringing up a daughter…who is all of those qualities and then some in this world, if that’s what she did just her being her, I think that speaks volumes to what she did as her in the spotlight and also her as Leia.”
The Last Jedi is out nationwide December 15.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0CbN8sfihY]