Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker screenwriter Chris Terrio discussed how the lack of Carrie Fisher resulted in Rose Tico footage being cut from the final product.
If you’ve been on Twitter in the past week, you’ve surely noticed how Star Wars fans are maligning director J.J. Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio for not giving Rose Tico more screen time. Many found the lack of Rose Tico screen time to be a loud dismissal of the character that was introduced in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, arguably the most controversial film in the Star Wars saga. Some of the hate The Last Jedi suffered was specifically directed towards the character of Rose Tico, who many found to be useless and/or pedantic.
The backlash against the lack of Rose Tico even led to fans petitioning for a Rose Tico Disney Plus series, with director Jon M.Chu tossing in his name as a potential director. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker writer Chris Terrio recently spoke with Awards Daily and was asked as to why Rose Tico didn’t get an adequate amount of screen time (she only received a little over a minute) and if he and director J.J. Abrams were trying to sideline the stand-out character from The Last Jedi. The Star Wars writer responded to the outlet by stating that a lack of Carrie Fisher footage led to Rose Tico not getting screen time.
“Well, first of all, J.J. and I adore Kelly Marie Tran. One of the reasons that Rose has a few less scenes than we would like her to have has to do with the difficulty of using Carrie’s footage in the way we wanted to. We wanted Rose to be the anchor at the rebel base who was with Leia. We thought we couldn’t leave Leia at the base without any of the principals who we love, so Leia and Rose were working together. As the process evolved, a few scenes we’d written with Rose and Leia turned out to not meet the standard of photorealism that we’d hoped for. Those scenes unfortunately fell out of the film. The last thing we were doing was deliberately trying to sideline Rose. We adore the character, and we adore Kelly – so much so that we anchored her with our favorite person in this galaxy, General Leia.”
The Star Wars writer certainly has some valid points, as the film did try to anchor Rose Tico with Carrie Fisher’s General Leia. It’s also quite commendable that footage between Carrie Fisher and Rose Tico was shot but was cut as it didn’t paint Carrie Fisher’s General Leia in the best light. The latest film in the Star Wars saga managed to be a fitting end to Carrie Fisher’s Leia with the resources they had available from the previous Star Wars films. However, a lack of Carrie Fisher footage that was usable meant that Rose Tico was given the sideline. It’s a disappointing trade-off for fans, but it did mean that only the best parts of Carrie Fisher’s footage was used.
What are your thoughts on what the Star Wars writer has to say regarding Carrie Fisher and Rose Tico? Comment below and let us know!
Here is the synopsis for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker:
Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams join forces once again to take viewers on an epic journey to a galaxy far, far away with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the riveting conclusion of the seminal Skywalker saga, where new legends will be born and the final battle for freedom is yet to come.
Directed by J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, Keri Russell, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Ian McDiarmid, and Billy Dee Williams. Carrie Fisher will appear as General Leia Organa through the use of previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now playing in theaters.
Source: AwardsDaily
