Entertainment Weekly has unearthed new intel regarding Carrie Fisher’s final Star Wars performance in anticipation of The Last Jedi.
Lucasfilm’s long-anticipated sequel has adorned the cover of EW’s fall issue, signalling an avalanche of exciting new tidbits – not to mention high-res photos of Rey, Luke, Finn, and the rest of the gang – to pour over. From Snoke’s “dangerous,” blood-red guardians to those pint-sized porgs, The Last Jedi has been occupying headlines left, right, and center, and here, writer-director Rian Johnson touches base on Fisher’s poignant finale and the “very, very vulnerable” Resistance.
Remember, before Starkiller Base was blown to kingdom come in The Force Awakens, the First Order’s WMD managed to shatter the Republic, which leaves Resistance forces in a somewhat precarious position.
Her character to some degree or another has been defined by loss through this whole saga, starting with the loss of her home planet. She’s just taken hit after hit, and she’s borne it, and she focuses on moving forward and the task at hand. She’s suffered quite a bit. While I was figuring out what her deal was going to be in this film, it’s one of the things I talked about with Carrie before I started writing: where the character would go.
But don’t go rushing into Star Wars: The Last Jedi expecting the Resistance to fill the void left by the Republic; as Johnson tells EW, our heroes will find themselves cut off from the rest of the galaxy come December.
No, no, no. Not at all. They’re a small band that’s now cut off, on its own, and hunted when the Republic is shattered. When the First Order did that hit, the Resistance is isolated, and they’re very, very vulnerable. That’s where we pick them up.
Perhaps referencing the film’s “really cool” send-off for her character, the filmmaker then spoke a little more about the lasting legacy of Fisher.
There’s no way that we could’ve known this would’ve been the last Star Wars movie she would be in, so it’s not like we made the film thinking that we were bringing closure to the character. But watching the film, there’s going to be a very emotional reaction to what she does in this movie.
But arguably the most emotional quote included in EW’s cover story comes from Oscar Isaac, who recalled Carrie Fisher’s exuberant spirit while paying tribute to the late, great actress.
One of my favorite things that would happen from time to time on set would be when Carrie would sing old songs. Whenever that would happen I would offer her my hand and we would waltz around the set – on a starship, in a Rebel base, on an alien planet, and she would sing and we would dance. So surreal and beautiful to think about now. For all of her delicious, wicked humor and fiery energy she also had such sweet grace. I miss her dearly.
Entertainment Weekly promises to unveil Benicio Del Toro’s top-secret character imminently, so keep your peepers peeled. Star Wars: The Last Jedi, meanwhile, has been booked in for December 15th, when Rian Johnson and his team will shed light on most, but not all of Snoke’s mysterious backstory.