5 Interesting Behind The Scenes Facts About 'The Last Jedi'

Star Wars

Feb 22

If you are a Star Wars fan then you definitely have an opinion about the sequel trilogy. Love it or hate it the films gave us some fun new creatures like the porgs and crystal creatures, and introduced us to Rose. The second film in the trilogy, The Last Jedi is arguably one of the worst Star Wars films ever, but there are some pretty interesting behind-the-scenes facts associated with the film. So, let’s take a look at five facts about the film that you probably didn’t know!

5. Writing Issues

It is no secret that many Star Wars films have struggled with writing issues, but none have struggled quite like The Last Jedi. According to the team behind the film Rian Johnson had to start writing it before J.J. Abrams had finished The Force Awakens. This makes no sense to me, but could definitely be the reason that there were so many inconsistencies between the films.

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4. Porgs!

Love them or hate them progs were a surprise to everyone because they looked so different from any other Star Wars creature we have seen before. They were created by the effects team as a last resort. Skellig Michael Island where parts of the movie were filmed had a huge puffin population native to the island. Production couldn’t get the bird out of the shots so they decided to create the porgs and cover up the puffins with the new creatures using CGI. I, for one, am glad that they created them because they are one of my favorite creatures in the franchise!

3. So Many Inconsistencies

It is no secret that the entire sequel trilogy is full of inconsistencies, but they are especially apparent in this film. One of the biggest issues was that Captain Phasma was introduced as a major player in The Force Awakens, but is then thrown aside in The Last Jedi. According to Johnson, he didn’t really care about the character and felt that his new characters and storylines left no room for her. Then you have the fact that Kylo Ren’s scar is moved from the bridge of his nose to over his eye. Johnson claimed that he thought the scar on the nose looked weird so he decided to move it. I will never understand why writers and directors can’t collaborate and work together to create films that flow smoothly.

2. New Actors

Chewbacca and Rian Johnson — Image Source: IMDb

This film saw new actors stepping into roles previously played by actors who had been with the franchise since the beginning. Joonas Suotamo stepped into the role of Chewbacca since Peter Mayhew’s body could no longer take on the strain of the role. He was listed as “Chewbacca Consultant” in the credits. Jimmy Vee stepped into the role of R2-D2 after the unfortunate loss of Kenny Baker in 2016. These actors did an amazing job in these roles and I am excited to see them in future projects and possibly the upcoming Rey film.

1. Unhappy Mark Hamill

During an interview, Mark Hamill revealed that he was less than thrilled when he first read Rian Johnson’s script and he wasn’t quiet about it. He told Johnson “I pretty much fundamentally disagree with every choice you’ve made for this character”. He went on to say that he would do his job though and try to bring Johnson’s vision to life. Hamill later said that he wished he had kept his comments to himself, but honestly, I couldn’t agree with him more. The choices made for Luke Skywalker were absolutely, terrible, and a huge part of what made the film so bad.

Star Wars: Episode VIII- The Last Jedi is available to stream on Disney+.

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