As Star Wars: The Force Awakens stares down against James Cameron's almost 20 year dominance of the worldwide box office earning list the dust is slowly beginning to settle on the dividing opinion of audiences that have seen the movie. As with any movie that truly divides its fans the debate will never truly be settled definitively with one camp praising the movies steps forwards and the new characters, while the other camp criticizes the movies over-reliance on established narrative and character dynamics from previous instalments.
Regardless of whatever camp one may or may not reside in, if any, attention is slowly moving toward the next two movies - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Episode VIII. While Gareth Edward's first non-episodic Star Wars movie will be released December 16th, fans will only have until May 26th 2017 to see Rian Johnson's eagerly awaited Episode VIII.
Fans are hoping that with the new characters and forces at play having been introduced in The Force Awakens the remainder of the sequel trilogy can forge new ground and move the saga forward. While director Johnson is remaining tight-lipped, British actor John Boyega has revealed some small elements of information in a recent interview with Vogue...
This week you’ve been nominated for an EE BAFTA Rising Star award – how does that feel?
“It feels great, of course. Especially to be alongside the other amazing talents who are in the category. It’s very flattering. I’ve been to BAFTA before actually, but it will be amazing to be there as a nominee. I’ve not prepared a speech or anything though, definitely not, it doesn’t feel real at the moment.”
We should say “spoiler alert” before this question, but is it a relief to finally be able to talk more openly about Star Wars: The Force Awakens – you’ve had months of interviews where you’ve had to be very secretive? Did you even tell your friends and family what happens?“Yes, at last! Han Solo dies, OK? He dies. Phew. It feels good. But now, we just starting work on Star Wars VIII, the next film, so I’m back to keeping secrets again.”
Your co-star Daisy Ridley has already praised how good the script is.
“It’s great. Much darker, but we’re very excited.”
You must’ve still had some pinch-yourself moments, when you’ve really realised how big the film is?
“Most of those happened on set. Working with Harrison Ford or just seeing where we were filming that day. I was a Star Wars fan before, so there were definitely a few moments that made me think: ‘Wow.'”
Your scenes are very energetic – did you have to train extensively to get in shape for the part, or you were already lightsaber-ready?
“No, for this film we really just took it scene by scene, there wasn’t a huge regime. My part in the next film will be much more physical so I might be in the gym a bit more.”
