If you would have said to someone before “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” that the most interesting female character in the film wouldn’t be played by Daisy Ridley or Carrie Fisher, you would have been thought of as crazy. However, after watching the film, it’s clear that Laura Dern’s Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo was the standout character. Unfortunately, the audience’s time with the character was cut short, well before we really got to know her history. Well, Dern is opening up about the character, and giving fans a little bit more to dissect.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Dern gave a few extra details about Holdo and dropped a bit of a bombshell – Holdo was Force-sensitive.
“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,” Dern says. “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.”
However, as mentioned above, the character wasn’t around long enough to really explore that side of her. Dern says that the knowledge of Holdo’s Force-sensitivity definitely was hinted at in the film. “There’s something about her that longs to protect it, and holds that with great care,” Dern says. “There’s a sort of a light on and a wisdom that she speaks about in the film, and speaks to Oscar Isaac’s character briefly about it.”
Holdo’s relationship with the Force was so important to her that Dern says it played a part in her ultimate sacrifice in the film. “Yeah, her primary goal was to protect the light, to protect the Force, and to keep the revolutionaries alive,” Dern says. “And I think the film speaks so beautifully to that with this last image of the next generation of the Resistance, you know?”
While there might be issues with the way ‘The Last Jedi’ handled Holdo’s story (Why didn’t she tell Poe about her plan sooner?), the violet-haired Rebel was definitely one of the best characters of the film, and in a short time, left an indelible mark on the franchise.
She also left her mark on those First Order ships! Hey-oh!
Also, with all the serious discussion about ‘The Last Jedi’ still polluting fandom, we’d like to share a bit of the gag reel from the film, featuring Oscar Isaac getting slapped quite a few times by Carrie Fisher. Enjoy!