Geek - Issue 9 2019 - 32

looked at the footage that we
had cut, which I had bemoaned
doing at the time on Episode
VII, and we realized that we had
the answer to our impossible
question, weirdly, in this
footage. And it's just her. I mean,
she's in the movie. It's Carrie
Fisher as Leia in a way that is
still uncanny to me. Weirdly, it's
even more impossible that she's
not walking up and down this
carpet, because she's an actor in
the film every day in the editing
room, so it's very strange."

unexpected moments the
whole time. Secrets are a big
thing and nobody really ever
knows what anybody else is
doing. So it has been the story
of the pictures to have different
scripts, false scripts, sometimes
no scripts at all, false lines. An
area of mystery is always a great
thing to have when you're telling
a great story, and that certainly
continues."
As does his popularity in
the role, which he finds a bit
disquieting. "In one sense I
feel like I failed because you're
supposed to hate me," he
laughs. "That is my function, to

32

ISSUE 09

be really detestable when I say
things like, 'Execute Order 66.' I
mean, you can't get much worse
than that, can you? But people
tell me they love me, so all of
the other lovable characters
suddenly have a competition
from the worst evil creature that
cinema ever created. What does
that say about your psychology,
ladies and gentlemen?"
Notes Abrams, "With the
Emperor around, he's not going
to be here to be, you know,
your cuddly pal. I can't wait to
see how that plays out for the
audience."
As we all know, Carrie Fisher

passed away before she could
shoot The Rise of Skywalker,
but, as it turns out, there was
enough cut footage of her
from The Force Awakens that
material could be written
around, so Leia remains an
integral part of the film.
"We realized immediately
that there was no way to
conclude the Skywalker saga
without Leia," Abrams says.
"She's too important and we
obviously didn't want to use a
CG character-that never would
have worked for us. And we
didn't want to recast, of course.
And then we went back and

■ Fifty credits
say Rey winds up
with the Falcon
at the end of the
movie...

SAYING GOODBYE...
FOR NOW
While Kennedy and others at
Lucasfilm determine what the
future of Star Wars will look like
beyond the Skywalker saga and
efforts like The Mandalorian and
the Obi-Wan Kenobi series that
are or will be a part of Disney+,
everyone is getting ready to
say goodbye to this particular
chapter.
"The title feels like it's the
right title for this movie,"
Abrams muses. "And I know
that it's provocative and asks
a bunch of questions. I think
when you see the movie, you'll
see how it's intended, what it
means. But in the flow of things,
this movie had a very weird
responsibility. It had to be the
end of not just three movies,
but nine movies. And the idea
of having to incorporate the
stories that have come before,
strangely, is the story of the
movie, which is to say it's the
characters in the film inheriting
everything that's come before
in previous generations.
Whether it's the sins of the
father, whether it's the wisdom
that they've acquired, and
the question is: Is this new
generation up to the task? So,
in a way, I feel like we're coming
into this movie having inherited
a lot. And the question is can we
do it? That's a question we ask
ourselves every day."
Geek - Issue 9 2019

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