Have you seen the movie Ten Years? That’s when I fell in love with Oscar Isaac 😉 He’s just got that suave look to him and, he sings. And it is beautiful.
And don’t even get me started on Lupita Nyong’o. Just WOW. She is just as stunning in person as you would think.
Continuing my series of Star Wars cast interviews, on today’s docket is Oscar Isaac and Lupita Nyong’o. As both of them obviously have totally new characters in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we asked what they could tell us about their characters.
All that Lupita was able to tell us (soon to find out more in the movie!!) was that her character’s name is Maz Kanata and that she is a pirate who owns a bar. I am definitely looking forward to find out more about this character TONIGHT at the movie!
Oscar was able to give us a bit more insight on his character, Poe Dameron:
I can say that Poe Dameron is a pilot, not a pirate, and he is committed to the resistance and to defeating the first order. He believes in the Force and he can be a little reckless in wanting to prove that he is a leader and a hero. I think he also has that swagger and confidence that comes from people that can soar above everyone else and do all these things at once like, Â fighting a fighter jet and getting into these dog fights and be so close to the edge of death and that definitely influences how he operates in the world.
 (Photo credit)
Next question was about what’s it was like stepping into and becoming part of the most iconic series probably of all times and if they had grown up with Star Wars. I was actually surprised at Lupita’s response!
I was born into Star Wars. I feel it was a very normal part of my childhood. It would come on public holidays on national television. We only had two channels so Star Wars was on and everybody watched it and everybody was familiar with it because it was all there was to watch on TV. And we all loved it and so it was just a very normal comfortable, cozy part of my imaginative folklore, you know?
It wasn’t until being cast in it that I realized what it meant on a meta level to the world and how big the fan base is, how dedicated, how enthusiastic people are about this world that George Lucas created.  I felt it dawned on me for the first time stepping onto the actual set that I was a part of it because I looked around and these were very expansive sets and there was so much detail taken into the creation of every single thing, the textures, the colors. You really did feel like you were on another planet and I think that was the time when I realized wow, I’m a part of something that has and will continue to go down in history. – Lupita Nyong’o
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac)
Ph: David James
©Lucasfilm 2015
Oscar Isaac, having grown up in the US obviously had a different story but nonetheless, you could tell he was a long time fan of Star Wars.
The first movie I ever saw in the theatre was Return of the Jedi, amazingly. It’s pretty crazy.
He joked that he was going to stop doing movies now that he had come full circle. Ha! (Thankfully, that was a joke.)
 It kind of blew my little kid brain. I was a huge fan ever since and my family were very big fans and every time a new film would come out we’d throw themed parties and memorize the fight scenes to a T and terrorize my family with them. So for me, Star Wars always represented and meant quite literally coming together as a family and having a great time and it was an excuse to do that.
But at the same time, you know, it’s like that thing where there’s this ownership over it and there’s an intimate relationship with it and then also it is just something completely outside of my, anyone’s real reality. Then suddenly to actually be asked to join that and not only be in it but to contribute something and create a new character. It was an evolution. The character changed so much from what originally was there when JJ and I first met to what ultimately ends up on screen. So it really did feel like creating something. It is kind of hard to process because you start and especially now. you really feel that, you know,  all the water is receding  because the tsunami’s about to hit.
You know, that’s kind of what this moment is really where it’s just about to crest over. It’s not just a film. It’s a cultural phenomenon. – Oscar Isaac
Oh and last but not least, I did ask what the first thing was that they did when they found out that they got their parts in the movie. Lupita found out with only a couple of days to spare so got out her suitcase to pack up for London.
Oscar, being the Star Wars fan that he is….
I was in a hotel room in London so I just blasted the Star Wars theme and I grabbed the shampoo bottle and started using it like an x wing. That’s what I did.
I’ll leave it at that for today! I’m heading the theater TONIGHT to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens!! CANNOT WAIT!
Showings start tonight and it is “officially” in theaters tomorrow, Dec 18!
(Photo Credit to Mom Start)
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