We’ve known for some time that Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o would have a prominent role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but for months, the exact nature of her role was kept securely under wraps. Eventually, it came out that she’d be playing a CGI character named “Maz Kanata,” but again, we had no idea what this character would look like or what purpose she’d play. Well, with the release of The Force Awakens rapidly approaching, Maz Kanata is finally starting to come into focus.
First off, we now know for certain that the little, orange-goggled creature in the center of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens poster is, in fact, Maz Kanata. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, J.J. Abrams went into the character’s backstory a bit.
“Her history is that she was a pirate for a long time. She’s lived over a thousand years. She’s had this watering hole for about a century, and it’s like another bar that you’d find in a corner of the Star Wars universe. [Information about her species and home world] will be forthcoming. In the movie, you don’t learn these things, but I know that these are things that are coming out in other venues.”
Interestingly, Abrams originally wanted Maz Kanata to be a physical puppet…
“I wanted to do the creature as a puppet originally, but once we figured out the things that she was required to do, it felt like performance capture was the way to go.”
It should be noted that while we haven’t seen Nyong’o’s character in action yet, we did hear her speaking over the third trailer and a recent TV spot, so she’s clearly a fairly important character. Based on Abrams comments about wanting the character to be portrayed by a puppet, could Maz Kanata be the sequel trilogy’s Yoda? A Yoda that happens to own the new version of the Mos Eisley Cantina? And who used to be a damn space pirate? That’s a character I can get behind.
It’s just a bit odd that Lupita Nyong’o’s character has been so heavily downplayed, but I’m guessing Disney is shy about showcasing any cute CGI characters with the specter of Jar-Jar Binks still looming large. Particularly after Abrams made such a big deal about using practical effects in the movie. But hey, maybe it’s a good thing that at least one part of The Force Awakens isn’t being over-hyped.
(via Entertainment Weekly)