Say what you will about Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but arguably one of the more intriguing elements of Rian Johnson’s sequel is the fiery relationship between Rey and Kylo Ren.
Divided though they may be, each character was intrinsically bound by the Force (read: Supreme Leader Snoke), allowing them to share intimate scenes with one another despite being separated by the vastness of space. Indeed, much of this arc unfurled during the beginning of The Last Jedi, when Rey had set up camp on Ahch-To and Kylo Ren was still kneeling before Snoke.
That all changed during the sequel’s epic Throne Room scene, and thanks to a recent interview with People (via ComicBook.com), writer-director Rian Johnson outlined how that connection came to be:
For those force connections, I needed them to talk. And I thought that the hardest thing that Rey could possibly be faced with is being forced to talk to this person that she completely despises. And also the audience, we hate him coming into it. She had to be our proxy and so that’s why in those first few conversations, she is just spitting in his face.
Proving his commitment to the cause, Johnson then revealed that those Rey/Kylo Ren scenes required an extra bit of legwork during production, resulting in Adam Driver flying to Skellig Michael off the coast of Ireland – and presumably vice versa, as Daisy Ridley would have to be just off camera for Driver, too.
Every single time we shot one of their sides, the other person was off camera. Even to the point where Adam flew to Ireland just to be off camera for Daisy’s stuff, which was essential because they’re such intimate conversations. And that also meant we had to shoot each of those scenes twice basically, which meant the rehearsal time was really important. And my editor Bob Ducsay did an amazing job then of making it feel kind of seamless after the fact.
Expect Rey and Kylo Ren’s spat to reach new heights when Episode IX zooms into theaters in December of 2019. The Last Jedi, on the other hand, continues to reign supreme at the international box office – China notwithstanding – and is well on its way to landing a grand total of $1.6 billion.
