Recent Star Wars movies have seen plenty of fan favorites bite the dust as several beloved characters from the original films have been killed off in heartbreaking ways. While many may consider the shocking murder of Han Solo or the unexpected death of Luke Skywalker to be the most tragic in the series, Tim Rose sounds like he disagrees.
The Admiral Ackbar puppeteer expressed his thoughts on the veteran commander’s death in Star Wars: The Last Jedi in a recent interview, saying:
“After The Force Awakens — for whatever reason, length of picture, whatever — it all got cut out. So after waiting 30 years to reprise Ackbar I was a little disappointed with Ackbar’s role in that picture. So in The Last Jedi, I was quite looking forward to maybe them giving him something more juicy. We were only given the script on the day when we were shooting that piece of script, so each day I would come to work going, ‘Is today the day when Ackbar gets something a bit more involving?’ And I looked at my script and I went, ‘Oh, Ackbar’s going out of the window. Well, that’s that then!’ I wasn’t quite dead yet.”
However, Rose isn’t the only actor associated with Admiral Ackbar to recently express his disappointment in how the character was handled. Tom Kane has been the voice of the lovable red alien since Erik Bauersfeld’s death and was also displeased with the untimely demise.
To make matters even worse, Admiral Ackbar originally had a lot more to do in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The movie was expected to involve the commander a great deal, but all of those ideas apparently ended up on the cutting room floor. Rose says he understood the decision at the time, but became disgruntled following the opening of the next film, during which the franchise’s meme-worthy mainstay met his end.
Admiral Ackbar has been a part of the series since Return of the Jedi in 1983. As such, Rose was excited to once again take on the iconic role in the Sequel Trilogy, but unfortunately never managed to get much screen time until his passing in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
The character will most likely always be remembered for his oft-spoofed “it’s a trap!” line and continues to live on in cartoons, comic books and fans’ minds. Though everyone wishes there could be justice for the mistreatment of the veteran commander, it’s important to remember all the good times and laughs he brought to the Star Wars franchise. He was everything Jar Jar Binks only wished he could be.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on December 20th, and Admiral Ackbar will no doubt be there in spirit.
