Star Wars Bits: Woody Harrelson Talks Han Solo, More CGI Actors, And Brian Blessed Shares A Jar Jar Binks Anecdote
In this edition of Star Wars Bits:
While theStar Warsseries has never been a major awards season player, the film industry has typically done a fine job of recognizing the series' contributions to the visual effects realm.Rogue Onehas been nominated for seven Visual Effects Society Awardsacross six categories. I love just how specific these nominations are:
Of course, these visual effects have also been the source of some controversy for how they resurrect Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin and digitally recreate a young Princess Leia. I’m of two minds about this whole thing (it’sreallyimpressive and it makes mereallyuncomfortable!), but I’m also fascinated by the process. So thisThe Hollywood Reporterinterview with actor Guy Henry, who played Tarkin on set was digitally transformed into Tarkin by ILM, is fascinating. Here’s a taste:
I felt I couldn’t feel too responsible in the sense of the way that it looked. I had to trust John Knoll and Gareth and the team, who were convinced they could make it work. Vocally, I’m not a mimic. I’m genuinely not an impressionist. I’d be doing my very best to do my Tarkin, the rolled “r” and the voice as best I could, and Gareth would say, “OK relax on that. Just be a bit more Guy now.” I had to trust that they saw something in the reel of my work that convinced them it could be the tribute to Cushing everyone wanted it to be. It was very, very frightening, in all seriousness.
And while many fans and critics have wondered if this means we can look toward a future where more dead actors are brought back to digital life, Henry doesn’t think that’s likely:
I can’t really see why they would. Suddenly to make a new film and get James Dean in it? I can’t see that’s likely to happen. This was very specifically to recreate this character in a way that served the story of Rogue One. Apart from anything else, the work involved in it was enormous. I always felt so sorry for the poor people in Industrial Light & Magic. They had to spend all day and most of the night with me trying to make me look like him. Tony Gilroy, who was the second unit director, said, “God, I’ve spent a hell of a lot of time listening to your voice.” I said, “You poor man. I’m sorry about that.” (…) I think and hope it won’t be a commonplace thing. I can see when it can be used for a good piece of storytelling, and I’m sure they will consider it. I don’t think it’s going to be very common.
But takes us right the story of Disney negotiating with the late Carrie Fisher’s estate to obtain the right use her likeness. The internet’s initial knee-jerk reaction to this news was that we’ll be getting a digitally recreated Leia Organa inStar Wars: Episode 9, news that turned more than a few stomachs. However, a look at the full quote (via the good folks atio9) doesn’t confirm anything:
Carrie Fisher died less than a fortnight ago, but in the minds of Disney movie moguls and Star Wars fans, she’s very much alive. And with what might be regarded as unseemly haste, Disney is negotiating with the actor’s estate over her continued appearance in the franchise. If Disney gets the go-ahead, Carrie Fisher will join Peter Cushing, who, last month, fifteen years after his death, played a key role in Rogue One as Grand Moff Tarkin. With computers, anything is possible, but is it desirable? While some living actors are contracting over the use of their image when they die, others, like Robin Williams, who killed himself in 2014, explicitly banned the commercial use of his image until 2039.
Episode 9isn’t mentioned at all, which means that Disney could be simply looking to obtain permission to continue to use Fisher’s likeness in marketing. It’s too early to jump to any conclusions quite yet. Meanwhile,The Guardianreports that Disney is denying that the negotiations even happened in the first place
Let’s move on to another subject, namely a series of interviews withRogue Oneeditor John Gilroy, who spoke with several outlets about how he helped assemble the film (he is one of three credited editors on the film). First up, let’s take a look at his chat withThe Independent, where he addresses all of those trailer shots that didn’t make it into the final movie:
I would say a lot of the movie changed. That’s the simplest way to put it. I’ve said we definitely changed things at the beginning, added scenes developing those characters, and that has a ripple effect through the whole movie. So, I know people have been watching and clocking the deleted scenes and saying ‘I wonder how that fit in?’ but I was mostly concerned with the movie you saw. I was there to put that movie together.
Withio9, he spoke about walking the fine line of making aStar Warsmovie that was little different from any otherStar Warsmovie:
This movie was supposed to be different than otherStar Warsmovies. They were trying to push the envelope of what aStar Warsmovie could be. And when you do that, you try to walk that line. You want to make it different but you also want to very much make it part of the wholeStar Warssaga. So trying to find that balance was the biggest challenge.
And withCinemaBlend, Gilroy explained how the “dark” ending ofRogue Oneisn’t that dark at all:
Most films don’t end on a dark ending because usually what happens if you do that is people walk out of the theater and they’re glum and that’s not what you want. We sidestep that inRogue Onebecause, first of all, their deaths have so much meaning. It’s a very noble self-sacrificing death on their parts. But from there we go to Vader overtaking the ship and having this incredible action sequence, which is earned.Star Warsfans loved that. Without even trying, that sort of changes someone’s mindset a little bit. All of a sudden, you moved to what Vader’s doing and then finally you’re moving to Leia.
Colliderrecently spoke with Woody Harrelson and naturally, his role in the upcoming Han Solo spin-off movie came up. He doesn’t say much, but he does once again confirm that he’ll be playing young Han’s mentor:
Rogue Onescreenwriter Gary Whitta is one of my favorite people on Twitter and you really should follow him if you likeStar Warsand geeky stuff in general. As a bonus, you live vicariously through him as he shares photos of himself hanging out on the set of The Force Awakens with Gareth Edwards.
Despite doing massive business in most territories,Rogue Onehas failed to light the box office on fire in China despite the casting of movie stars like Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen in major roles.The Wrapspoke with Jonathan Papish, an industry analyst at China Film Insider, to find out why and it’s simple: Chinese audiences didn’t grow up withStar Wars, so most of them don’t care aboutStar Wars:
It’s polarizing Chinese audiences. Those who grew up with the prequel trilogy or maybe caught the original trilogy somehow are giving the film some face, but the newer generation of moviegoers – those that really help a film break out at the box office – just don’t care about these stories.
While searching for the Death Star plans, Jyn and Cassian must first cycle through countless other top secret Imperial projects. But what are they? And what do they do?Star WarsExplained is on the case in their latest episode.
As a kid, I loved Luke Skywalker. As a too-cool teenager, I was more interested in Han Solo. Now that I’m a grown-ass adult, I’ve gone back to appreciating what Mark Hamill brings to the original trilogy, especially how he allows Luke to grow from a whiny brat into a proper warrior. Hamill himself recently summed up the appeal of Luke and why he’s so important the series (viaCinemaBlend):
I wasn’t 6'2", you know, a perfectly fit specimen. You’re right, I was kind of a geek, with no discernible skills. But I thought that was reassuring. … Now, the kids might be a little wary of Han Solo. He’s swaggery, and he’s a rogue and a pirate and all that. And the princess is royalty, and Darth Vader is scary. Of all the characters, Luke is the most accessible in terms of a 9-year-old going, ‘Oh yeah, I can I hang out with him and not be intimidated.’
Star Wars: Galactic Mapsis one of the coolestStar Warsbooks I’ve ever bought, a tour through the known galaxy that leans heavily on gorgeous, double-page illustrations that capture the entireStar Warssaga in a fun, playful, and somehow truly informative style.StarWars.comhas interviewed artist Tim McDonagh, who explains how he approached each piece of art:
YouTuber Jamie Stangroom has been interviewing the actors behind smaller characters from theStar Warssaga for video interviews and his conversation with the great Brian Blessed offers a very interesting Jar Jar Binks anecdote. Blessed played Gungan leader Boss Nass inThe Phantom Menaceand he explains how he saw the trouble with the most hated of allStar Warscharacters coming (viaMovieWeb):
No, no, no, no. I did advise at times. I didn’t interrupt people’s' interpretations because the interpretations were terrific, he’s fine. But if you’re playing a character like that or you’re playing Boss Nass, I always made sure that my noises didn’t interfere with dialogue, because I had a lot of plot. I made it [the line of dialogue] clear, then I made noises. But I didn’t make noises on the line, and I think Jar Jar Binks makes noises on the line, and he has a lot of plot, so the audience will go: ‘what did he say?!’ I said, you lose a bit of plot, you have to be careful. Cause it involved me a bit and George said ‘I’ll watch it Brian, I’ll watch it.’
Let’s wrap up this edition ofStar WarsBits with video footage of Tony and Gwen Francis, who built a four foot tall BB-8 snowman in their backyard in Highland, Utah. It’s adorable.
