Star Wars: The Force Awakens – J.J. Abrams on Secrets, Spoilers, and Snoke
Entertainment Weekly has finally come to the end of their Fall Movie Preview coverage of Star Wars: The Force Awakens…and it has been quite the ride. We’ve learned details about Kylo Ren, experienced the return of Harrison Ford to the Star Wars saga through the words of Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, and have seen a bevy of brand-spanking new The Force Awakens photos, as well as much, much more.
EW’s wrap-up piece is all about J.J. Abrams and his thoughts on the secrecy surrounding The Force Awakens, how fans react to potential spoilers, and what it’s like working with Andy Serkis who is portraying Motion Capture character — Supreme Leader Snoke.
On the infamous lengths he has gone to keep as much of Episode VII a secret, much like his Star Trek films and more notably, Cloverfield.
"“My instinct is to typically keep things quiet – and if I had my way, perhaps we would be showing less – but the truth is, I want to make sure that the fans aren’t feeling like we are holding back for the sake of it.”"
You have to respect the director here, for his choice to present a film in theaters, from which there has been little information leaked. Of course there are sites that do nothing but dig deep for leaks and spoilers, but like Abrams said, not all of the information out there is actually legit, and in fact, some of it is actually a giant red herring.
"“There are many things that have been seen that of course can’t be understood yet. Some things are throwaways; some things are more important. But the fundamental thing is the movie, and wanting to make sure that we are platforming and helping where we can, but not in any way ruining or divulging things that would make the experience of seeing the movie lessen.”"
On spoilers, which in this day and age have become so prevalent in our pop-culture. As I mentioned, there are sites out there that solely exist to find any tid-bit of information about the film, in hopes of presenting spoilers to those who wish to see them. Then there are others who simply refuse to look at even the most harmless of news, so that they can go to the theater on December 18, and see Star Wars: The Force Awakens with “virgin” eyes.
"“I also have read more comments than I ever expected where people say, ‘don’t spoil it for me, don’t show me everything, don’t ruin the story, I don’t want to know it yet, and I’m always grateful for that. So it’s a little bit of a tightrope, and we want to make sure we’re being forthcoming, but that we’re not spoiling.”"
And finally, Abrams talks about working with Andy Serkis who will be portraying Supreme Leader Snoke, which will be added to his impressive mocap resume includes such titanic film franchises like Gollum in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Caesar in Planet of the Apes.
"“I have nothing about him yet…”"
Meaning that Abrams would not go into detail about Snoke. But he did expound on Serkis.
"“…but I will say that Andy Serkis is like working with someone who is an historically great actor. He is the kindest, sweetest, most lovely guy, so it’s not that he puts on any airs of being pretentious or anything at all, but he’s simply so damn good…”"
This is something that we’ve heard about Andy Serkis before, and it’s always refreshing to see the mocap actor get the respect he has earned. As far as what Snoke will look like, what kind of species he will be, or if he is in fact the Force ghost of a long dead Sith Lord, we just do not know. In fact, along with legendary actor Max von Sydow, Serkis’ character has been the most speculated about character in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Regardless of whether or not you like spoilers, or prefer to be kept in the dark, J.J. Abrams has done a superb job of hyping Episode VII, which only serves to springboard the rest of the trilogy, once his job is done. You can read the rest of Entertainment Weekly’s final interview with J.J. Abrams, in it’s entirety, HERE.
Next: Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Kylo Ren Featured on EW's Fall Preview