Star Wars: Lupita Nyong'o's Maz Kanata Is A 1000-Year-Old Bar Owner
JJ Abrams and Lupita Nyong'o have been discussing the Oscar-winning actress’s role in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’, confirming a few interesting details.
The interview also confirms what many has suspected, that Maz Kanata is the small alien seen beside R2-D2 on the film’s poster. And that she utters a line in the most recent trailer.
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“I have lived long enough to see the same eyes in different people. I see your eyes. I know your eyes,“ says Kanata. Her eyes play an important part too, with Entertainment Weekly writing that they have "special meaning and power”.
Obviously quite what that is, we’re not being told just yet. “I had this pitch about these goggles that she wore. Her eyes are an important aspect of her character, and you’ll see how it plays out,“ says director Abrams.
“As an actor for films,” adds Nyong'o, “Your eyes are a lot of the way you communicate anyway. So it was definitely a gift to have that be the means to her magic as a motion-capture character.”
Perhaps Maz Kanata has come connection to the Force?
In the interview - part of an extensive cover feature - we also learn a little about her backstory. "Her history is that she was a pirate for a long time,” says Abrams. "She’s lived over a thousand years. She’s had this watering hole for about a century, and it’s like another bar that you’d find in a corner of the 'Star Wars’ universe.”
Abrams also says that more about the character will be revealed in things “that are coming out in other venues,” likely meaning books or comics.
Nyong’o portrays the character through motion capture (above) and hers will be an important role in the movie. It is believed she’ll run into Daisy Ridley’s Rey, John Boyega’s Finn and Harrison Ford’s Han Solo at some point - with the heroic trio on a hunt for answers.
'Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ will be released in the UK on 17 December.
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Picture Credits: LucasFilm / WENN.
