Rian Johnson Interview With New York Times

Via nytimes.com:

Skywalker Ranch, the 5,000-acre spread that George Lucas established here in Marin County, is hardly a shrine to the “Star Wars” movies; the quiet campus has no giant Yoda statue or Death Star murals. If you weren’t looking carefully, you might have missed Rian Johnson, the director and writer of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (due Dec. 15), having breakfast in a guesthouse on a recent August morning.

Mr. Johnson has established his genre bona fides as the writer-director of the time-traveling neo-noir “Looper,” and as a director of TV shows like “Breaking Bad.” Now, he is picking up the baton from J. J. Abrams, who reinvigorated the “Star Wars” universe with “The Force Awakens.” That wildly successful 2015 film — the seventh chapter of the galactic saga — began a new adventure for Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess (now General) Leia (Carrie Fisher) and introduced the enigmatic Rey (Daisy Ridley) and her sullen nemesis, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).

“Star Wars” is a gargantuan franchise, and Mr. Johnson, 43, is a soft-spoken, unassuming man. But right now its destiny lies in his hands, and he said he was free to make the movie he wanted. No requirements were imposed by Mr. Abrams or Kathleen Kennedy, the Lucasfilm president, who did not hesitate to call for significant changes on the stand-alone “Rogue One,” the coming Han Solo film and “Star Wars: Episode IX.”

On a break from finishing the sound edit for the movie, Mr. Johnson spoke about the making of “The Last Jedi,” “Star Wars” characters new and old, and Ms. Fisher’s death in December. Here are edited excerpts from that conversation.

How important were the original “Star Wars” films for you?

“Star Wars” was everything for me. As a little kid, you get to see the movies only once or twice, but playing with the toys in your backyard, that’s where you’re first telling stories in your head. It was so emotional to step onto the Millennium Falcon set, because that was the play set we all had when we were kids. Suddenly, you were standing in the real thing. There’s this rush of unreality about it.

How did you learn you were being considered to write and direct a new “Star Wars” film?

It was really, really out of the blue. I had a few general meetings with Kathy Kennedy when she took over Lucasfilm. I never thought I was actually in the running, because I assumed every director on the planet would want to be doing a “Star Wars” movie. And then it was sprung on me. It was like a bomb dropped. I suddenly realized, Oh, this meeting is about this. I didn’t try to hide the fact that I was freaking out. But I also said, “Can I think about it?”

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