Despite both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi receiving critical adulation and record-breaking success at the box office, they also each came with their fair share of controversy amongst fans. The Force Awakens was widely criticized for following too closely in the footsteps of A New Hope (particularly with the Starkiller Base climax) and as for The Last Jedi? Well, I thought it was great, but if we get into the controversy surrounding that film we’ll be here all day. All of which makes Adam Driver’s comments about Star Wars: Episode IX in an interview with Deadline pretty telling.
The Kylo Ren star was asked about his ‘marathon journey’ with the Sequel Trilogy and here’s what he had to say about it:
In the plays that I’ve done, a six-month run, on the very last day, you finally feel like, “Oh, now I have a better understanding of what it is that I want to do. I wish we could do this all over again.” Working on a play, the questions you can ask yourself are infinite, and that’s what’s torturous about film sometimes – you only have one shot to get it right. And you can do a lot of takes, but we’re not all going to get back together again and do this. But for something you’re doing for six years, you still have a chance to go back and make something a little bit more articulated.
It’s an interesting perspective on filmmaking. A piece of theatre is a living breathing thing right up until its last performance, with the actors constantly able to change their mood based on their understanding of the characters. Meanwhile, once the film is in the can, that’s pretty much it.
It’s interesting that Driver perhaps feels pressure in this last movie to really nail it. None of the cast of The Last Jedi could wholly ignore the backlash it received, and while many of the criticisms were half-baked, nobody wants their film to upset fans. So, perhaps in this last outing in the trilogy, he’s hoping that audiences will consider that they’ve ‘got it right.’
Also of note in the interview is when Driver explains the following about the role of Kylo:
“With Star Wars, I had one piece of information of where it was all going, and that’s where it has been in my head for a long time, and things were building towards that.”
I’m insanely curious as to what this piece of information might be, and what destiny Kylo Ren’s heading for. Of all the Sequel Trilogy characters, he’s by far the most interesting (and well-acted), so I hope the film doesn’t turn him into just another cackling space tyrant. I suppose we’ll get an idea of what’s in store once the first Star Wars: Episode IX teaser hits the internet (which hopefully will be very soon).