“Star Wars” gets a bad rap for being a boy’s club, and sometimes rightfully so, but the truth of the matter is that women have always been an integral part of the George Lucas-created world and the franchise’s fan base. On screen, the names Leia, Amidala and Rey are as instantly recognizable and known as any others — and none were ever just playing “the girl.”
With this now 39-year-old tradition in mind, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” introduces a new heroine to the ranks — Jyn Erso, an abandoned child of war who must decide what she believes in as the world devolves into chaos. Director Gareth Edwards talked about developing the character and settling on the idea that “Jyn isn’t just a woman — she’s a person.”
“I wanted to make a character that I would want to be. Not to fancy her or want to marry her, but want to be her. It was just a cool person,” Edwards continued.
He and the team at Lucasfilm settled on English actress Felicity Jones, 33, to play the part. Already an Oscar nominee for her portrayal of Jane Hawking in “The Theory of Everything,” Jones had been making a name for herself in smaller projects, like the indie romance “Like Crazy.” But recently, she’s been dipping her toes in larger-scale films, like “The Amazing Spider-Man” sequel.
Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy was drawn to Jones’s ability to bring a sense of gravitas and importance to everything, while also exhibiting a “real whimsy.”
“For years I’ve been constantly looking for these kinds of parts and these kinds of films and the opportunity to make it on such a large scale was pretty hard to turn down,” said Jones, who also appears in the upcoming fantasy tale “A Monster Calls” and opposite Tom Hanks in “Inferno.”

Source: Arab News