The Cast of THE LAST JEDI Discuss How Han Solo's Death Will Affect The Characters and Story in The Film
The death of Han Solo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a huge dramatic blow to fans. Han Solo is a favorite character for many fans and to see him die at the hands of his own son was pretty gut-wrenching. It sucks that we won't see the character continue with the saga, but I have been curious to know how the ramifications of his death would affect the story and characters moving forward.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a press event for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. While there, several members of the cast assembled for a panel to talk about the film and one of the main things that the discussed was how Han's death affected the characters, and John Boyega's answer is actually kind of surprising because there's not a lot of mourning going on:
"We're just keeping it moving to be honest with you, man. It's true. The pressure's on, man. There's no time. I think that's one thing unique to me about watching this movie was the commentary on war. There hasn't been a Star Wars movie yet that has explored war in the way The Last Jedi does. It's very messy; the categorizing of good and evil is all mixed together. In terms of Han, I'm sure we all feel sentimental if someone were to sit Finn down, sit Rey down. But Rey's off training, she's got stuff to do. I've got a back injury, I've got stuff to do. I can't think about Han at the moment."
They are just jumping right into the action. There's no time for mourning because they have too much stuff to do and there are other lives at stake. Oscar Isaac then offers his opinion on the matter saying:
"This is reverberating, but he's right. It's a dire situation, it's critical to the Resistance, which is on its last legs. We're trying to survive. The First Order is right on top of us. It is like war - you just gotta keep moving to try and survive. So I think you feel the momentum of everything that happens in The Force Awakens just pushing and getting to a critical mass in this film."
He just drives home the fact that there's just way too much going down to think about what happened with Han. The Resistance is in a very dire and critical situation. The Last Jedi picks up right after the events of The Force Awakens and even though the Starkiller Base was destroyed, The First Order is still strong, especially with Supreme Leader Snoke leading the charge.
Daisy Ridley had a much different outlook on the death of Han, though. Rey doesn't have the same kind of soldier type mentality that Finn and Poe have. Han was an important figure in her life and losing him the way that she did very much affected her and left some emotional scars.
"I will interject there. And I think it's the beauty of having storylines that are happening in tandem and affecting each other. Because I would say that where it leads very much affects me. Rey is a character who has been alone for a very long time. And she's really open to love and friendship, so Finn and BB-8 come along and it's like this amazing adventure. And then Han, without trying to, she seeks something from him because there's an intimacy, and there's a sort of figure or something she never dreamed of for her. Everything is new to her, so she's understanding things in a different way, and lucky for me, because I was trying to get to grips with everything going on, and Rey is trying to get to grips with everything going on. So for Rey there is some time. Everything is moving forward, but she has some time to ask questions and wonder what it means it is that led someone to do something like that. And also how that directly affects the world around her. And she's worried about being at home. So I'd say she's a bit more affected."
It's good to know that someone is mourning the death of Han! Obviously, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Daisy Ridley aren't going to share any major story details regarding the film, but they did do a great job talking about how Hans death affected their characters without revealing anything in regards to the story. I'm curious to know how Luke Skywalker reacts to the news and if Leia is will also be more affected by it. We'll ffind out soon!