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Rian Johnson On Working With Carrie Fisher And Mark Hamill On The Last Jedi

Published Thu, 07 Sep 2017 13:15:38 -0500

We live in a world where fans are growing up and able to work on the franchises they loved as kids. This rings true now that Star Wars is back on the big screen and directors are getting the chance to work the stars they idolized in their childhood. Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is in that boat, and he recently told the The New York Times what it was like working with Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher:

"It took a while before I could sit across the table with Mark and not, every three seconds, think, I'm talking to Luke Skywalker. With Carrie, I felt we connected as writers very quickly. She spoke her mind, man. They both did. Anyone whose life is that weirdly tied to a character like this, where you drop a script in their lap and say, 'Now it's this,' there's no way it's not a discussion. But they were both so engaged in the process, and trusting. The fact that both of them at some point said, 'O.K., even if this isn't what I was expecting, I'm going to trust you,' — that was really touching."

When we lost Carrie Fisher in December, The Last Jedi suddenly took on whole new meaning. The movie was shot, they were editing, and the question of whether or not they should change things in the postproduction was a difficult one:

"When she passed away, we were pretty deep into postproduction. When we came back to the edit room after New Year's, it was so hard. We went through all her scenes. I felt very strongly that we don't try to change her performance. We don't adjust what happens to her in this movie. Emotionally, you can't help recontextualize it, now that she's gone. It's almost eerie how there are scenes that have an emotional resonance and a meaning, especially now. She gives a beautiful and complete performance in this film."

No matter what they do with the character, it's going to be a hard movie for all of us to watch. It's good that nothing was changed in postproduction concerning Fisher's performance. It would have made watching that final performance even harder.

Summary: Having taken her first steps into a larger world in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Rey continues her epic journey with Finn, Poe and Luke Skywalker in the next chapter of the saga.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi, directed by Rian Johnson, stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill, Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher, and Adam Driver. It will be released on December 15th.

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