Page 29 - Star Wars Insider - The Last Jedi 2018

THE RESISTANCE

POE DAMERON
REBEL, REBEL

OSC AR IS AA C

A pilot who fl ies on instinct, Poe Dameron’s actions cause trouble
for the First Order and the Resistance!

4 /
ALL THAT JAZZ
Ruminating on his experience
working with writer/director Rian
Johnson, Oscar Isaac conjures
an intriguing analogy. “Working
with Rian reminds me of a West
Coast jazz musician, giving a little
direction here and there,” he says.
“He’s very laid back, but very sharp.
He knows his scale. He knows what
he’s playing. And he’s open. He’s open
to trying things. He’s willing to explore
scenes with me, and often we end up
going back to what the script says,
but at least we get to explore.”
For his part, Johnson sees
Isaac as “a reincarnation of my
favorite old movie stars; he has
that old school magnetism paired
with insane acting chops. Poe is
a straight-up, good-guy hero, and
although he gets put through the

wringer in this film, because of
Oscar you never lose faith that he’s
going to come out the other end all
the better for it.”
or Oscar Isaac, the contrast between his heroic pilot but perhaps learn to be a general. And
character in The Force Awakens and the that’s a shift. He’s a man on a mission. You give
Poe Dameron we fi nd in The Last Jedi him a mission, and he’ll complete it. But seeing the
F is appreciable, not least because we get bigger picture, knowing when not to engage, that’s
to see more of Poe in the new fi lm. Noting that what he has to learn.”
in The Force Awakens Poe was “a man on a It’s a steep learning curve, and one that takes
mission”—that mission being to find the missing both Isaac’s character, and the fi lm in general, in a

Luke Skywalker—and that when Poe and Finn met bold new direction. According to Isaac, The Last
the two characters sparked, Isaac maintains that we Jedi explores themes of “what it means to resist
didn’t learn much more than that about his character, and what it means to win,” and contains “some
“except that he has a smart mouth.” In The Last very truthful messages about power and the nature

Jedi, however, “there’s a lot more conflict. He fi nds of power and those seeking power and how easily
himself in a more precarious situation. He’s a man it can go one way or another.”

of action; he wants to help, to save the Resistance, He adds, “It’s finding out what a hero is. What

to fight the First Order. But his old heroics aren’t it is to be a hero and what it is to be a leader. You get
4 / Poe Dameron has the

First Order in his sights. necessarily what they need in this moment.” more specific and find the nuance in the situation,
Like all of the characters in The Last Jedi, Poe and how you can explore those themes. It’s a war.
5 / Oscar Isaac as the is given room to grow and develop over the course They’re in the midst of a war; it is life and death,

rebellious Poe Dameron. of the film. In his case, that means “learning to not and the decisions made affect so many. Especially on
(See opposite page) just be a soldier but to be a leader. Not just be the Poe’s side, which is focused on the Resistance.” a
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