Rian Johnson on The Last Jedi moment he was most excited about

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

MAJOR SPOILERS for STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI below. Today marks one month since the official release of STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, and audiences still have a lot to say about the divisive film. THE LAST JEDI introduced plenty of new elements and thrilling sequences to the STAR WARS franchise, and writer/director Rian Johnson spoke with THR in an interview, conducted before the release of the film, where he revealed which moment he was most excited for audiences to experience.

Believing that there was still a chance for Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) to redeem himself, Rey (Daisy Ridley) left Ahch-To to confront him. Upon landing on Supreme Leader Snoke's (Andy Serkis) monstrous ship, Rey was captured by Kylo and brought before Snoke, where The First Order leader revealed that he used Kylo's connection to her as part of his plan to destroy Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) once and for all. After prompting his apprentice to kill Rey, Kylo instead assassinated Snoke, and together, Kylo and Rey battled Snoke's Praetorian guards. Rian Johnson told THR that it was this sequence that he was most excited to share, also adding that he wasn't quite so confident about some of THE LAST JEDI's other noteworthy moments.

That was a big moment I was looking forward to. But that was also a moment where the deck is pretty stacked. I wasn't holding my breath, "Is this going to play?" I felt like, "I can't wait to see an audience reaction to this." I was pretty confident in that moment. The [sacrifice] moment with Holdo was something I was holding my breath to see how the audience reacted, and I could not have been more thrilled with how the theater reacted to that big moment. And honestly, Kelly's final little moment with John, and then she passes out. There were so many moments I was holding my breath to see how the audience was going to react to it. Because this was the first time I was seeing it with an audience. I can't wait for opening night with a big crowd.

Holdo (Laura Dern) sacrificing herself by making a light-speed jump directly into Snoke's flagship was quite the showstopper, but Johnson's decison to cut the sound at the moment of impact did lead to some confusion, prompting AMC to post a warning before screenings at some theaters. I'd like to assume that the majority of audiences understood that it was a creative choice, but I suppose there were enough complaints to warrant the sign. Getting back to Laura Dern, it seemed that Rian Johnson couldn't say enough good things about her.

What you see is what you get: She is the most bright, lovely, open person. It's not like she's that way for the cameras and different in real life. That's her. She's one of my favorite people. I feel like just getting to become friends with her during this process is one of the true joys of it. She was so open to it. Especially she and Oscar [Isaac], who had the majority of their scenes together. They worked together so well they immediately got on. Laura was very excited about the arc of that character in terms of the audience's perception of the character. That's something we talked about a lot, that she had no vanity about. She was just really excited about the overall effect the character was going to have on the audience. That was really exciting.

Which STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI moment was your favourite?