Back when they were filming A New Hope in 1976, many of the cast and crew thought that this strange movie wasn’t going to be anything special. Alec Guinness famously hated the whole experience, saying “Can’t say I’m enjoying the film – new rubbish dialogue reaches me every other day .. and none of it makes my character clear or even bearable.”
But since Star Wars has become a global cultural phenomenon, many actors consider appearing in these productions to be an opportunity to participate in cinema history. And if this new behind the scenes video from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is anything to go by, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac and John Boyega know how lucky they are.
The clip itself comes from Vanity Fair and promotes Annie Leibovitz’s photoshoot for the movie. Liebowitz has been associated with these films for decades, and made the trip out to the shoot in the southern Jordan desert to capture the cast on set. In keeping with the Sequel Trilogy’s focus on practical effects wherever possible, there’s a lot to see. New aliens, set designs and some old friends looking particularly gleaming in the desert heat.
We also get a look at Naomi Ackie’s new character Jannah, who’s seen riding creatures that are apparently called Orbaks across the desert planet of Pasaana. These beasts appear to be horses with motion capture equipment on them, allowing ILM to replace them with CGI creatures. It’s a particularly cool idea that should create an animal with a physical presence in the world, while allowing them to go a bit nuts on visual design.
Other than that, it’s nice to see the cast talking about how much of an honor it is to be associated with Star Wars. It truly is iconic, and seeing Joonas Suotamo’s Chewie cuddling BB-8 provides a melancholy moment as we remember the recently passed Peter Mayhew.
