After Thursday night, when an all new Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailer aired on NBC during the Olympics, the excitement surrounding the film is at an all time high. The heroine of Rogue One talked to EW about her role in the film, and the importance of women in the Rebellion…
Entertainment Weekly recently interveiwed Rogue One star, Felicity Jones (Jyn Erso), and learned about how she was brought into the film, and how important women are to the Rebellion. According to Jones, the first time she met director Gareth Edwards, it was like going on a secret mission.
"“We were both working at the time and we met at something like 5:30 a.m. in a hotel restaurant. Most of the meeting was conducted in whispers as he explained the story and the character. My first introduction was definitely one shrouded in secrecy and being very careful no one overheard what we were talking about.”"
Can you imagine meeting the director of the very first standalone Star Wars film, in a hotel restaurant, at dawn, and learning all about your character in the film through whispering back and forth? Jones talked about how physically taxing it was, to film her role in Rogue One.
"“I’m laughing now, but at the time, it was physically exhausting. It took a lot of hours of practice, and I worked with a kung fu coach, and I learned to fight, even though I never thought beating up Stormtroopers was something I’d be doing in my job. It came through hard work and lots of practice and rehearsals.”"
We’ve seen snippets of Jones’ character, the aforementioned Jyn Erso, kicking some Stormtrooper butt, and running a full speed — with what appear to be the actual Death Star plans in her hand — toward a group of assaulting AT-ACTs.
As EW points out, Jones now joins Star Wars Original Trilogy star Carrie Fisher, and The Force Awakens star Daisy Ridley, as another strong female role model to girls everywhere, who want to fight for a good cause. However, in Rogue One, Jyn Erso’s own personal role model is Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), who recruits Erso for the mission to steal the plans to the Death Star.
"“I would say there’s a huge amount of respect for women in the Rebellion. Mon Mothma is ultimately, for Jyn, someone she looks up to. So even as the film opens [Jyn] has a very strong female role model in front of her, and someone she respects.”"
Next: The best 20 photos from the new Rogue One trailer
It will be both interesting and exciting to see Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso, lead the rag-tag group of rebels against the Empire, in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, when the film hits theaters worldwide, on December 16.