Originally published November 5, 2015. Updated March 2, 2020.
Following the release of yesterday’s character posters [see here], The Hollywood Reporter caught up with rising stars Daisy Ridley and John Boyega to discuss their breakout roles as Rey and Finn in December’s wildly-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
“Rey faces a lot of challenges throughout the film, and the way she reacts to things I think is kind of the way anyone would,” states Ridley. “That’s why I think she’s so universal and brilliant: She’s frightened but she faces up to what she needs to. And she’s brave and smart, and you see an entire emotional spectrum of her throughout the film. She’s not a superhero. She’s a normal girl thrust into extraordinary circumstances, so it’s very relatable. It’s an emotional story about a girl on a journey, but the story is a lot more than that.”
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“I think I’m always interested in characters that start off one way and end another,” adds Boyega. “I just feel that sort of character is painted for a perfect story. What has always interested me, and what has interested a lot of people, are the characters that are unlikely. The characters that don’t necessarily fit or match the status quo. Finn isn’t a guy you would expect to be involved in this story. The fact that he’s a Stormtrooper. We don’t [usually] go into [Stormtroopers’] pasts or lives much: how the dynamics work for them, how they were recruited — we don’t ever really see much about the past there. It was interesting to me to have that kind of character.”
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Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set for release on December 17th in the UK and December 18th in the States and sees J.J. Abrams directing returning stars Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Kenny Baker (R2-D2), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar), in addition to Adam Driver (Girls), Oscar Isaac (A Most Violent Year), Andy Serkis (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Silent Witness), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), Ken Leung (Lost), Miltos Yerolemou (Game of Thrones), Max von Sydow (The Exorcist), Jessica Henwick (Spirit Warriors), Christina Chong (24: Live Another Day), Simon Pegg (Star Trek) and newcomers Crystal Clarke and Pip Andersen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=ajiqDmBADMc
