Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Press Conference)

Funny Mom writer Cynthia had the opportunity to attend the Star Wars The Last Jedi press conference! Today, she’s sharing all about her experience with us!

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Okay Star Wars fans, guess what? I’m coming to join the party. Yup, it’s official. Thanks to all the fun I’ve been having the last couple of weeks, starting with the press conference earlier this month and ending it with an early screening of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, I am sold! Full disclosure: This was my very first Star Wars film.

To be perfectly honest, the press conference for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, as awesome as it was, was a little bit tricky. Although the cast had previewed the film the night before, all of the members of the media that were in attendance, had not yet seen the film. So we could not ask very pointed and specific questions. Everything was still so very hush hush.

Be that as it may, it is Star Wars and everyone has their thoughts and feelings about not just the latest film in the series, but the story as a whole. I have to say my favorite part of joining in on the Star Wars craze has to be the fact that so many have been fans their entire lives.

In attendance at the press conference was: Mark Hamill (“Luke Skywalker”), Daisy Ridley (“Rey”), John Boyega (“Finn”), Oscar Isaac (“Poe Dameron”), Adam Driver (“Kylo Ren”), Gwendoline Christie (“Captain Phasma”), Domhnall Gleeson (“General Hux”), Andy Serkis (“Supreme Leader Snoke”), Laura Dern (“Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo”), Kelly Marie Tran (“Rose Tico”) and Director Rian Johnson.

As I mentioned before much of the plot and the storyline of the The Last Jedi was still very much under wraps during the press conference. I’ll be able to give you more of my thoughts on the film itself when my review goes up on Friday. But for now, what I was able to take away from the press conference was the feelings that everyone had when talking about their involvement in the film.

Everyone seemed to be in agreement that although this is only one part of a very big story, and as huge as the film is and as dark as the theme may seem, it was also very intimate and very intense. Laura Dern, who plays Vice Admiral Holdo, mentioned that during filming, it felt like they were working on an independent film. As epic as a movie The Last Jedi is, she credits Director Rian Johnson with making everyone feel very comfortable with the intimacy of their characters within the story.

Another important theme that the actors felt strongly about was the inclusion and importance of the strong female characters. Daisy Ridley, Gwendoline Christie, Laura Dern and Kelly Marie Tran all agreed that the original Princess, Princess Leia played by the late Carrie Fisher really opened the door for women to take on such powerful roles.

“…and just like Daisy said, like Laura said, like Gwendoline said, I think that she will always be an icon as Leia but also as Carrie.”

-Kelly Marie Tran on the impact that Carrie Fisher/Princess Leia has left on the film industry.

Say Hello to BB-9E.

While at the Press Conference, I was treated to some pretty fun sneak peeks at the new merchandise. Check out some of that below.

This build your own droid kit is from Little Bits and it is AWESOME! You can find it on Amazon and at Walmart.

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