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Solo: A Star Wars Story – Emilia Clarke Talks the Pressure of Living Up to Past Installments

Published Thu, 08 Feb 2018 14:16:30 -0600

Now that the Solo: A Star Wars Story trailer and images are here, we're finally learning some new things about the plot. We have some legacy characters that are going to make their appearances, but we also have new characters. One of those characters is Emilia Clarke as the femme fatale character Qi'ra. Entertainment Weekly sat down with Clarke as she talked about Qi'ra's history with Han Solo and living up to a legacy.

Well, they grew up as comrades, essentially. They grew up as pals, as partners in crime. There is obviously the romantic side of things. But they grew up together. So they were kids together. And the beautiful thing about this Han Solo story is it's highlighting all of the most brilliant aspects of Han Solo the character and characterizing those aspects in characters that he meets on his journey to becoming who he is.

We are all influenced, to some extent, by the people who are around us, and this is even more true when we're young. Qi'ra is one of the people who will shape Han Solo into the person we meet in A New Hope.

That's kind of the story, really. You are seeing all of these different elements that make up who he is through the people and the interactions and the relationships just as we all do as human beings. We are simply the embodiment of our experiences, essentially. … You see the beginnings of him, this loveable rogue. You get it fine-tuned throughout these relationships, and Qi'ra is one of those relationships that has an impact on him as a character. I mean, hopefully [laughs] — if I have done my job. And within that relationship, the thing that that you see with Qi'ra is that she an enigma.

One of the things Han learns from Qi'ra is to play his cards a little closer to the chest. She's an influence on his life, but she's also one being retconned in. There has to be a significant reason why she isn't brought up in the original trilogy, and they are going to tackle that.

She is a little bit of a tough one to get a hold of, really. There is this underlying joy in an origin story because you know where they end up. And Qi'ra is nowhere to be seen, so … something has happened! [Laughs] You know what I mean? … Something must happened to affect him as a person, but for us fans not to know about her. Twists happen, and there is this great idea of trust — and who do you trust and how do you trust? And which side of the tracks are either character from — or going to?

Qi'ra is being described as an enigma or a femme fatale. The femme fatale is a very common trope in the noir genre, which is what this movie is being pitched as.

It is. Mystery. There is a thing throughout the relationship you just can't put your finger on. And that's Qi'ra. Every time you think you have got her number you realize you haven't at all. [Laughs] Which is really hard to play. The goal is that the shadow of Qi'ra is there in Han as a character that we know. This girl is another texture that makes up who he is when we first meet him.

Finally, there is a lot of legacy involved when you join up to a Star Wars movie. When asked if she felt any pressure with being involved with this franchise, Clarke seemed happy to be part of such a unique part of this universe.

The joy of this movie is, it's like we're the kids at the back of the bus. Do you know what I mean? Like everybody else is doing the big stuff and we're just kind of making this stupid, cool, really funny, weird movie and no one's looking. All the Star Wars films have got, obviously, a beautiful flavor of humor in them, but this … this gets to be Han Solo funny, which is not the comic interlude — the comic interlude is it.

As the release date for this movie creeps closer, we'll probably learn a bit more about Qi'ra and her place in the canon. We can just hope that despite being a femme fatale, she's still a badass.

Summary: Han Solo and Chewbacca's adventures before joining the Rebellion, including their early encounters with Lando Calrissian.

Solo: A Star Wars Story, directed by Ron Howard, stars Alden Ehrenreich, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Woody Harrelson, and Thandie Newton. It will be released May 25th.

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