Indira Varma has come a long way from playing Ellaria Sand, Dorne’s effective ruler in HBO’s Game of Thrones from season six onwards, After making her Star Wars debut today in the latest episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the British actress explains why landing a role in the galaxy far, far away is more exciting than appearing as a recurring character in one of the most popular TV shows in the world.
Here’s how Varma compared the two hit franchises in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter and most likely became the first person to describe Game of Thrones as “shorter.”
“What’s different about Star Wars, obviously, is the fact that it’s been around for 45 years. That’s my life! It’s a lot of people’s lifetimes, whereas Game of Thrones is different. It’s shorter. So entering into Star Wars, as it’s known globally, is very exciting and quite daunting. I’ve talked a little bit about this before: As a young girl growing up in England, I didn’t particularly feel served by Star Wars because it was predominantly male.
Princess Leia, that was my hero because I had long hair I could do in those lovely wraps, but it didn’t feel like it was for me. And just watching over the decades how it’s evolved and become more modern and reflects the society — it’s become very exciting to be part of it and not just in terms of gender but also in terms of ethnicity and diversity. I feel so privileged because of the way they tell stories.”
It’s no secret that Disney is continuously trying to bring more diversity into the world George Lucas created all those years ago. The colorful cast of Obi-Wan Kenobi is just a testament to that initiative, something that other Star Wars media has also been echoing over the past few years.
For now, it looks as though Varma’s character may have saved Obi-Wan from certain death, so it’ll be interesting to see what the Imperial-officer-gone-rogue will contribute to the narrative from here on out.
Published: Jun 1, 2022 11:32 am