When it comes to choosing directors for their new Star Wars movies, Disney and Lucasfilm have been pretty consistent, with J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Rian Johnson (Star Wars: Episode VIII), Colin Trevorrow (Star Wars: Episode IX), Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Han Solo: A Star Wars Story) and even the departed Josh Trank all falling under the ‘white male’ demographic.
Still, they are making strides to diversify with more female roles with the likes of Daisy Ridley, Gwendoline Christie, Felicity Jones and – potentially – Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy has now told Fortune that it’s only a matter of time before we see a female director venturing to a galaxy far, far away.
“It is going to happen. We are going to hire a woman who’s going to direct a Star Wars movie. I have no doubt. On the other hand, I want to make sure we put someone in that position who’s set up for success. It’s not just a token job to look out and try to find a woman that we could put into a position of directing Star Wars… If we do want to bring a woman in to direct a Star Wars movie, we want to make sure that it’s somebody who’s passionate and really, really wants to do a Star Wars movie. We don’t want to talk somebody into it. It is interesting because I have a huge number of men who call me constantly and tell me how much of a Star Wars fan they are and how much they want to get involved in anything to do with Star Wars. I don’t have a lot of women who call and have those conversations with me.”
SEE ALSO: Colin Trevorrow causes controversy with comments on gender imbalance in Hollywood
Which female directors would you like to see tackling Star Wars? Let us know in the comments below…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=C_zu6XuI_g4
Originally published October 15, 2015. Updated April 10, 2018.
