‘The Force Awakens’ New Female Villain Was Originally Meant To Be A Man
As rumors continue to circulate about Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the latest installment in the Star Wars franchise, new surprises continue to emerge about the storyline. The latest revelation is that Captain Phasma, portrayed by Game of Thrones’ Gwendoline Christie, was originally meant to be a man.
Business Insider reported that Vulture‘s Kyle Buchanan was the first to reveal to Gwendoline Christie that her character was originally conceived to be a man. Buchanan learned the secret from Star Wars: The Force Awakens co-writer Lawrence Kasdan. Christie said she was shocked by the revelation.
“It’s so interesting, because I’m really uncovering more about this film from people like you than I knew before! Please just tell me everything he said!”
When photos started to surface of The Force Awakens, fans noticed that there was only one new female character. Even as film creators were still trying to complete the cast of the movie, J.J. Abrams, the director, and Kasden got the idea to cast the character as a woman based on the reaction that came from the Internet. Kasden said it seemed right.
“Everything was happening simultaneously,” Kasdan said. “When the idea came up to make Phasma female, it was instantaneous: Everyone just said, ‘Yes. That’s great.'”
#TheForceAwakens‘ Captain Phasma wasn’t always a female character: https://t.co/gxiTK9JdTJ pic.twitter.com/HSIRtGZla5
— Nerdist (@nerdist) December 7, 2015
Lawrence Kasdan Reveals That Captain Phasma Was Originally a Male Character https://t.co/HsX4kCV6On #StarWars pic.twitter.com/2g96qBOmQ4 — Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) December 7, 2015
Christie said that she likes movies like ‘The Force Awakens‘ that portray men and women in more diverse ways. The chrome suit for Captain Phasma didn’t sexualize the character and instead served its function.
“I remember when I first saw it, I said, ‘Wow’ — not just because it looks incredible, although come on — but because I thought, ‘This is new.’ I mean, in my own small bubble, this represents the way I think and the way I see things, but it’s not always the way of the world,” she said. “So for that evolved thinking to be in a ‘Star Wars’ movie, I think people love that! People have responded so well to that.”
As previously reported in Inquisitr, the latest trailer focuses on the villains. The main antagonist in the movie is Kylo Ren, who speaks to the mask of Darth Vader and promises to complete Darth Vader’s work of balancing the Force. Captain Phasma only makes a brief appearance in one of the frames for the trailer. That hasn’t stopped her from creating enormous buzz on the Internet.
Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm and brand manager of the Star Wars franchise said that Captain Phasma would survive and live on in Star Wars: Episode 8. Christie, after talking to Kennedy about the character, was shocked to discover the lack of female villains, and so she was excited by the part.
“Kathleen Kennedy said to me, ‘Have you ever Googled ‘female heroines’? I said, ‘No,’ and she did it for me. If you do it, there are a lot of scantily clad women. Now women should be allowed to dress exactly however they choose, but the idea that you Google female heroines and there isn’t a diverse range of examples that come up, I find it a bit depressing.”
Star Wars: The Force Awakens premieres on December 18 in the United States while it makes its movie premiere in Great Britain on December 17 and France on December 16. It is expected to break many box office records.
[Photo by Victor Chavez/Getty Images Entertainment]
