We're seeing more and more of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (have you SEEN that new international trailer?!) every day but I'm still very curious about its lead, Jyn Erso. Actor Felicity Jones recently spoke about the importance of her character and women in the Rebellion and beyond.
Women in Star Wars are notoriously few and far between. It's why many of us were so thankful The Force Awakens and Rogue One have female leads. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Jones mentioned one of those women is something of a hero to Jyn – Genevieve O”Reilly's Mon Mothma.
“I would say there”s a huge amount of respect for women in the Rebellion,” Jones told them. “Mon Mothma is ultimately, for Jyn, someone she looks up to. So even as the film opens [Jyn] has a very strong female role model in front of her, and someone she respects.”
That bit of representation in the fictional word echoes the importance it can have in the real world. Jones told EW showing female action heroes is “vital.” She continued, “As we”re seeing in politics, it is a world where women are becoming leaders of nations, and films should be reflecting that.”
But she admits Jyn is “a very unlikely heroine.”
“She”s someone on the edges and fringes of society,” she said. “Physically, she”s smaller than everyone else around her, but… when someone has something they believe in, that”s what powers them, that”s what motivates them, that”s what can give someone enormous strength.”
The actor also spoke to them about the physically exhausting role saying, “I worked with a kung fu coach, and I learned to fight, even though I never thought beating up Stormtroopers was something I”d be doing in my job.” It's a pretty enviable job if I do say so myself.