The “democratization of the Force” was one of the most controversial aspects of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, with many fans taking umbrage with Leia’s usage, Rey’s lack of important heritage, and the anonymous young boy Force grabbing his broom at the end of the film. Perhaps the only aspect that came even remotely close to drawing that much ire was Laura Dern’s Vice Admiral Holdo, a complicated character who seriously shook up the Star Wars universe in a unique way. In a new interview, Dern managed to combine both lightning rods of fanboy rage into one potent combination by implying that Holdo was Force sensitive.
While speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Dern had many insightful things to say about Holdo’s actual power, which was honestly only hinted at in The Last Jedi, and revealing a bit more about the character’s background. According to Dern, she spent a significant amount of time with writer-director Rian Johnson, producer Ram Bergman and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy in order to know what truly made the Vice Admiral tick.
“In their minds, and in their understanding of the origin story, we know that she was a true rebel in the Resistance, and in our culture we might have called her a hippie. But she was longing for peace, and a revolutionary in that way, and wanted to be trained by and led by Leia, who taught her everything she knew. She wanted to come up in the ranks to support Leia’s mission, but also had this otherworldly side that does involve the Force.”
While it almost sounds like Dern is veering into fan theory territory, it’s clear that the people behind the scenes wanted this to be an important aspect of her character. Plus, doing things for the greater good without fully explaining them is a pretty classic Jedi move.
“Yeah, her primary goal was to protect the light, to protect the Force, and to keep the revolutionaries alive. And I think the film speaks so beautifully to that with this last image of the next generation of the Resistance, you know?”
With the blu-ray edition of The Last Jedi hitting shelves today, this new information is just another reason to rewatch the film looking for details you missed the first three times that you watched it in theaters.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)