The Last Jedi Director Rian Johnson on Directing the Legendary Luke Skywalker, Developing the New Characters, and – Michael Jackson?
(Beware, this article does not contain spoilers for The Last Jedi, but there might be spoilers in the comments section below)
In a rather lengthy interview with Rian Johnson on StarWars.com, the director of The Last Jedi takes a look back on his experience working on the film and gives a little insight into his future with the franchise. Hit the jump to read some of the highlights.
(from StarWars.com):
When asked about how he went about developing the film’s story, Johnson had this to say…
“I had an instinct as to where it made sense for it to go, but I was very much just trying to really, genuinely, get into the heads of the characters in VII. I just made a list of all the things I knew about all the characters, including Luke. Because, obviously, you don’t learn much about Luke in VII, but you learn a lot about the circumstances under which he’s made this decision to take himself out of the fight. So my goal was really just to make something that felt like a straight line going forward from VII that made sense to me. Rather than come up with some crazy take on what it would be and then figure out how I get there, I was really just trying to continue the line forward in a way that made sense.”
Johnson went on to talk about what it was like directing the legendary Luke Skywalker…
“I mean, it was phenomenal. It was a really intense working experience, just because during prep and during rehearsals we had a lot of conversations like this. A lot of conversations about the character. And we collaborated and we argued and we did everything you can imagine. Through that, first of all, we formed a really good connection, and second, we both, by necessity, had to really understand where he was and where he was coming from.
Mark was so wonderful to work with on set. He was so trusting. Especially with this character meaning what it does to Mark, and his life, the fact that he could step back into that character’s shoes and trust some young schnook [Laughs] with the direction of that character, and put himself into my hands. I still can’t believe he had the graciousness and the trust to do that. But it was a wonderful experience.”
After talking about the legacy characters for a bit, Johnson was asked about his creative decisions concerning the new characters in the saga…
“Well, the other big half of the movie, that we have shown less in the marketing but I’m really excited for people to see, is Finn’s story. Finn is such a big part of The Force Awakens, and he’s such a huge part of this movie. His side of it, in a way, is just as thematically interesting to me as the Rey/Kylo/Luke side of it. I kind of am enjoying the fact that we haven’t tipped our hand much as to what he goes through in this movie and that people are going to experience it fresh.”
The director jokingly elaborated on the importance of the new story elements by quoting the late Michael Jackson…
“Yeah. All the nostalgia stuff was fantastic and really fun and wonderful. But the new stuff, the new relationships, and what we got to build, I guess, as opposed to what we got to visit. As Michael Jackson said, “That’s where the jelly is.” [Laughs]
Quincy Jones said when they were doing the intro for “Billy Jean,” Michael just wanted to let it play and keep playing on and on. Quincy Jones was like, “That’s too long, that intro…” and Michael was like, “Yeah, but that’s where the jelly is. That’s what makes me want to dance.” [Laughs] I love it.”
Speaking of new elements, Johnson also talked about some of the new ships, creatures, and locations in the movie. Here’s what he had to say about the crystal foxes (vulptices) from the planet Crait…
“They’re beautiful creatures, man. They live on Crait, which is a mineral planet. Crait started with a very graphic idea of red underneath white, and how that could transform during the course of a battle. But the bigger idea behind it is it’s a mineral planet, and when it snows, it’s salt that’s snowing down on you, and any crevice is filled with crystals. So it was just a logical thing of how would a creature evolve on that planet. The idea of it being kind of a crystal chandelier with fur seemed really beautiful and worked with the story.”
And to no one’s surprise, Dave Filoni (Star Wars: Clone Wars, Star Wars: Rebels) adored them…
“During the design of it I wasn’t talking to Dave, but when he saw [the crystal foxes] he was very excited about them, [Laughs] and that made me think I was on the right track. But then, he’s got his whole thing where he loves wolves, so he thought they looked wolf-like and I think that got him excited. So he’s biased. [Laughs]”
Johnson was also asked about the strong red and white motif in the marketing for the movie. Here’s what he said about how that came about…
“It was something that developed… It went back to the script, I guess. The idea for Crait, very early on, was a visual idea that was there even before I started writing the script. Snoke’s throne room, which is the other big red environment, was something I had that I was fixated on. The idea of this theatrical space. Snoke uses theatricality, and so it’s this very striking, graphic, bold space, and red felt right to me for that space, as well. It’s probably a combination of me just liking bold, graphic design like that, and the natural development of it. Red just felt right for this middle chapter. It felt kind of dangerous.”
He also took a minute to give his initial impressions on Michael Kaplan’s golden robe costume design for Supreme Leader Snoke…
“I love that. When Michael Kaplan showed that to me, he like, squinted at me, and said, “What about this?” And I was so excited, just because the idea of bringing a splash of theatricality to this character, and the idea of him not being exactly what you’d expect… He would have looked fine in just black robes. We could have very easily done “evil bad guy 101,” and just stamped it on there. To me, though, it was much more interesting to kind of squint at him and say, “Wait a minute. What’s this guy’s deal, exactly?” [Laughs] To have a little bit of Ming the Merciless in there was more interesting to me.”
Not passing up the chance to talk about the duel leads in the movie, Johnson spoke to the natural continuation of Rey and Kylo Ren’s stories moving forward…
“With each of them, there were things that I really responded to in The Force Awakens. Both individually as characters, and also in their interaction in the interrogation scene that they have in The Force Awakens. I thought the dynamic between them was very interesting and the opposing forces, flint striking off each other with the two of them, combined with this power on opposite sides that they both share, was very interesting.”
Lastly, here are Johnson’s comments on the possible redemption of Kylo Ren and the astronomical hurdles he would have to overcome should that ever happen…
“You know, we hate Kylo’s guts coming into this. [Laughs] He’s interesting because the villain is always interesting, but also because, I think, you can see his flaws and his vulnerabilities…
“…He gets his ass kicked. He has his butt handed to him, absolutely, by someone who should not have been able to hand him his butt. [Laughs] So he’s in a very different place than Vader, but I think we hate him maybe even more than we hate Vader coming into this…
“…I felt like my work with this was to evolve the character from where he’s at, to push him further along, which you always need to do with any character, and, I guess, get inside his head a little bit more. Even to do that, you can’t just say, “Okay, yeah, he killed Han Solo, but he’s a nice guy.” Or, “He had these issues, so you gotta understand…” I mean, you can’t make that appeal. You have to come into it with the knowledge that this guy has some very big strikes against him and you have to work forward with that.”
Johnson also took a moment to discuss how he came to be helming a brand new Star Wars trilogy in the future, but it’s not really anything we haven’t heard before as the director is being quite hush on specifics this early in the game. He did reveal, however, that his involvement with it came about from the simple fact that all parties involved on The Last Jedi just had a blast working together and wanted to find a way to do it all over again. Rian pitched to Kathleen Kennedy an idea about an all-new trilogy with characters we don’t know from places we’ve never been, and that’s really all it took to guarantee his future job security. No doubt, they have a lot of confidence in the director and his new addition to the Star Wars saga.
It’s nice to see that the future of the saga that we all know and love seems to be in very capable hands. I can’t wait to see what comes of The Last Jedi and thankfully, mercifully, the wait is almost over!
Be sure to check out the full interview HERE.
Jordan Pate is Co-Lead Editor and Senior Writer for Star Wars News Net, of which he is also a member of the book and comic review team. He loves all things Star Wars, but when he's not spending time in the galaxy far far away, he might be found in our own galaxy hanging out in Gotham City or at 1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center, NY.
Dear Starwarsnet, I love your page and have a small request: can you shut down the commenting option on posts for the next week or so? I think most of us will thank you for it. I’ve already come across a major spoiler on another page and I think the fans would thank you for doing it. Thanks! 🙂
Seconded
Third, fourth, fifth, and sixth that. I didn’t see the spoiler and now I am super fucking wearing of going into the comments for anything. New Rule, don’t be a dick.
Yeah, I havent seen one yet,but this is my last comment until I see the movie. May the Force be with you!
I wish u luck
May the Force be with you as well. See you on Friday.
Or you could just not scroll down to the comments so they don’t have to make adjustments to their site.
The one I saw was a different site and it was on the bottom of the screen before you finished reading the article. Thanks for the ‘common sense’ tip though. 🙂
I wasn’t talking about a different site.
I like this, so I’m taking it to the management. 🙂
The management doesn’t want to limit discussion, but we will add the warning about comments to every article and Viral will remove forum feed from the sidebar for a few days.
You can take some comfort in the fact that many of the things people have labeled ‘spoilers’ in comments and forum posts are from extremely dubious posts on places like Reddit and 4chan, where losers often take advantage of the fact that a Star Wars movie has premiered to pretend they’ve seen it and make up all kinds of nonsense.
In other words, don’t worry too much: what you saw may very well have been a load of horse pucky.
No fake news on SWNN, just that dang reddit
I’m afraid not. These spoilers come from a guy called the Pawn, a long time and respected member of a website called therpf.com. I have to say, that if what he says is true, I reckon there is going to be a bit of a backlash, to say the least. I myself don’t like the sound of it at all.
I don’t see that way.. I like the red advertisment for this days. It’s your decision to enter in the comment section. You can read the news and avoid the comment section. What’s the problem?
Although majority of us we are in the cantina, the commenting section is faster and funny. If i don’t want to be spoiled in some news i just don’t enter. If i think in the comment section could be spoilers, i don’t enter.
Have been avoiding lots of conversations and news for The Last jedi. I just only see one trailer and a couple of tv spots, and i know a few things, just because i have avoid lots of comments sections, and every day i have been visitng this site. Just more three days for me. Almost there.
Giancarlo Stanton going to the Yankees can only distract myself from the fact I am seeing this movie in 3 days. GET HERE ALREADY
Neat, he now he can fail to get into the series with the Bronx Sith too!
Winning the World Series is very hard, but I have to think with Stanton, the Evil Empire will rise up and at least win the Battle of Hoth against the Astros next year.
Maybe they should concentrate on trying to produce a winning record against (my desperately beloved) 15th ranked, basement dwelling bluebirds first 🙂
lol the Cardinals season was pretty depressing too man I get it
BIRD POWER!!!!
This is true. The Jays have some interesting players but need some BP help badly and another bat to replace Bautista.
Bats was actually a massive liability last year, but the real story was injuries. That was a total freakshow. For literally most of the season we were relying on 2 4th middle infielders, a variety of 4th LF’ers, a string of AAA starters and relievers, multiple relievers moved to the rotation because there just weren’t any other arms available either on the big club or high A ball, and then we had a veritable revolving door of injuries including JD, Superman, Smoak played the last half injured, and one of the worst, Russ Martin (thanks, btw, for that trade 🙂 ), who even if he’s not hitting, is invaluable calling games and handling the staff – middle of the season we had three awful, AWFUL catchers.
I suspect this year will be an improvement, but still not real contention, but 2019 is looking really exciting with Vlady and Boba Chette due to bow in the bigs. joining some nice late season trades from this year like Teoscar who hits all Tehome runs.
I loved Martin when he was on the Yankees, I actually preferred him to McCann but I am very happy with Gary Sanchez. I am very high on Vlad Jr and have had him in my minors on my dynasty team since got drafted in 2016. Looks like a stud.
YANKEES SUCK.
Here at least, we are in agreement.
I’m STL Cardinals fan best fans in baseball
GOOOOOOOOOOOD. I can feel your anger.
LOL. I would be angry if they were winning World Series regularly like they used to. But they’re not. And blowing a load of money on another big bat hasn’t worked for them at all in recent years, nor will it work this time. Cash Man never gets it. Good pitching wins titles, not big bats.
Luis Severino just finished 3rd in the Cy Young voting this year along with Tanaka and Gray is a great 1-2-3 along with Montgomery and whoever they sign as a FA now. Their bullpen was the best in baseball. You gotta think that they are heading in that right direction. Winning a World Series is hard.
Can’t wait any longer!!!!
I can’t believe what he did with Luke!!!!!! Damn Rian!
We got plenty of warnings from the likes of Lawrence Kasdan and Mark Hammil himself that the script was “weird”, so I don’t see why people are surprised, That is what I personally expected. Besides, Disney wants to move on from the Skywalker saga and traditional Star Wars theme. This movie seems to lay the ground for that transition
I know, just hard to agree with that direction. SW for me has always been “Skywalkers”…I’m sure the movie is good, but just knowing that some of my initial fears about it are true, really stinks.
(Perhaps) interestingly, Lucas originally envisioned Palpatine decking himself in gold
I have personally always viewed this site as well as a few others as SPOILER sites. You come here to BE spoiled…not to avoid them. For some of us…spoilers do not ruin anything and in my case enhances my viewing experience. So I fail to understand the viewpoint of coming here to avoid spoilers.
I like the idea of having a spoiler warning, but I don’t care about spoilers until the movie comes out. As of the 13th, I’m shutting my self out from the world, cause getting the story from people who have seen it just seems like cheating to me. However, before that date anything goes, including the visual guide leak that SWNN NEEDS TO TALK ABOUT cough cough (full spoilers).
New reactions:
From the Birmingham Mail, the review has now disappeared:
“Rogue One became famous for its final act dispatch of its lead characters. You may be surprised that The Last Jedi is equally as brutal with its roster of talent, as well as throwing in a couple of very welcome cameos. Quirky, illuminating, flippant (sometimes to its cost) and insanely dramatic, it’s a nail-biter”