Interview (Written): Rian Johnson

Conversation with writer-director of Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi.

I’ve admired Rian Johnson as a storyteller ever since I saw Brick and Looper is fantastic as well, so when it was announced that he was taking the reins of Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi as writer-director, I thought it was a terrific choice.

He sat down recently with David Itzkoff and the New York Times for a conversation about his experiences making the movie:

How much of the story of “The Last Jedi” was dictated to you, either by events in “The Force Awakens” or by Lucasfilm?

I had figured there would be a big map on the wall with the whole story laid out, and it was not that at all. I was basically given the script for “Episode VII;” I got to watch dailies of what J. J. was doing. And it was like, where do we go from here? That was awesome.

So there’s no one telling you that your film has to contain certain plot points, or that certain things have to be achieved by its end?

Nothing like that. But it’s the second film in a trilogy. The first film got these characters here. This second movie has to dig into and challenge these characters. I wanted this to be a satisfying experience unto itself. I didn’t want it to end with a dot, dot, dot, question mark.

What inspiration did you draw from the raw footage of “The Force Awakens”?

Rey and Kylo are almost two halves of our protagonist. It’s not like Kylo is our Vader. In the original trilogy, Vader is the father — he’s the one you’re afraid of and who you want the approval of. Whereas Kylo represents anger and rebellion, the sometimes healthy — and sometimes not — desire to disconnect from the parents. It’s my favorite kind of quote-unquote bad guy, because you can genuinely see what their weakness is.

You get to give Luke Skywalker his first lines of dialogue in this trilogy.

That was the first thing I had to figure out. Why is Luke on that island? And I didn’t have any answers. But it’s not like you can just pick anything you want out of the air. I grew up having a sense of who Luke Skywalker is. It guides you to a very specific path. I know he’s not hiding on the island. I know he’s not a coward. He must be there for a reason that he believes in. You’re finding a path forward, but there end up being fewer choices than you think.

What excites me most about this interview is to read how Johnson has been laser focused on the characters. Why would Luke Skywalker be living alone on that island? How Rey and Kylo are “two halves of our protagonists”. Sounds like Johnson charted the course of the plot from the characters themselves… which is as it should be.

Here is the latest trailer for the movie:

For the rest of the interview with Johnson, go here.

Twitter: @rianjohnson.