You may have heard of this little film the came to cinemas this Christmas. Just a quiet, subdued indie drama… Oh, who are we kidding. JJ Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens is an epic space opera that is set to not only add to the iconic Star Wars franchise, but reignite it for a new generation. Set 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the Rebel Alliance and the Empire have become Resistance and the First Order, respectively. The film sees Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher reprise their roles as Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia – but the cast is also brimming with the best and brightest of Hollywood’s new stars. Featuring Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, Girls star Adam Driver, Inside Llewyn Davis’ Oscar Isaac and our own Domhnall Gleeson, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is dragging the franchise into the 21st century at light speed.
 
With this update comes new societal rules, and in a meta exploration of gender equality, Star Wars: The Force Awakens not only addresses the progress made in the Star Wars universe, but in the film industry. The upcoming instalment is thus filled with interesting, multi-faceted female characters – and it’s about time.
Princess Leia Organa, Star Wars’ leading lady, is one of sci-fi’s most adored heroines; a smart, fearless and capable leader whose strength is fuelled by her unwavering sense of moral and political conviction and personal empowerment.
A cinematic favourite turned feminist hero, Leia’s defiant warrior spirit and unapologetic femininity made her a cultural icon. And yes, the image of a kidnapped Leia in a gold metal bikini may have made an entire generation of young men sweaty and lightheaded with feverish desire, but this was not a woman who was just a sexualised slave – here was someone who used the chains that enslaved her as instruments of power, using them to destroy her captor.
However, Leia sadly proves to be an anomaly in the original Star Wars franchise, where women are seldom seen and almost never heard. In the beloved trinity of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, the only other female characters allowed to speak are Aunt Beru, Mon Mothma, and an unnamed Rebel functionary at the Hoth base. And the combined running time of these lines uttered by women? An almost unbelievably pitiful 63 seconds. To clarify, the total series runtime is 23,160 seconds. It seems that even in a galaxy far, far away, sexism still reigns supreme.
Until now, that is. In J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the director has infused the film with his trademark appreciation for strong female characters. Though now known for lens-flare fuelled action movies, Abrams got his start with the female-led teen drama Felicity, and thanks to characters like Lost’s Kate Austen, Alias’ Sydney Bristow and Fringe’s Olivia Dunham, Abrams’ career has been marked by his commitment to bringing fully-rounded and aspirational female characters to the screen. (We’re chalking the disappointing and objectifying portrayal of Alice Eve’s character in Star Trek Into Darkness as an uncharacteristic slip on an otherwise impressive resume).
Speaking about his hugely anticipated instalment, Abrams reveals that the decision to fill the film with engaging leading women was very deliberate.
“Star Wars was always a boy’s thing, and a movie that dads take their sons to. And though that’s still very much the case, I was really hoping that this could be a movie that mothers can take their daughters to as well. So I’m looking forward to kids seeing this movie and to seeing themselves in it, and seeing that they’re capable of doing what they could never imagine was possible.”
While Abrams may be guilty of ignoring the existence of the legions of girls and women who have been die-hard fans since the beginning of the franchise, he is admirably determined to alter the representation of women onscreen, which is a necessary and exciting addition to both the Star Wars world, and the relationship that fans can have with the film.
The weight of becoming icons and role models for a new generation of Star Wars fans is not lost on Abrams’ leading women, who are simultaneously humbled and thrilled by the opportunity. Daisy Ridley, who plays the self-sufficient scavenger Rey, admits that she looked to Luke Skywalker, and not Leia, as a role model in the original franchise.
“He embodies so much of everyone. Everyone starts out on a path, then circumstances change, and things happen, and you go to a new path. The thing that’s always with him is the good. He’s the good against the evil. He’s looking out for Leia and Han Solo too. So, he’s got other people’s best interests at heart. So the choices he makes are positively affecting, not only him, but the people around him. I think that’s what so many people do in life and that’s probably why I feel like that. He’s someone I can relate to.”
Knowing that she is now about to become a character who fans, particularly young women, can relate to in a similar way has left the 23-year-old actress in a state of awe.
“I’m just starting to realise how big a thing it is. When JJ Abrams told me I got the part, he said that my life was going to change. I could imagine it, but I couldn’t feel it, until it began to happen.”
Ridley’s co-star Gwendoline Christie, known for portraying the warrior Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones, is euphoric about getting to play Captain Phasma, the first female Stormtrooper in the Star Wars universe.
“I’m particularly thrilled to be in this Star Wars because it encapsulates those wonderful, magical elements of the movies that we all know and love – those particular things that really tick our boxes, things like the creatures in it, the general feeling and the aesthetics”, says Christie, who is from West Sussex. “I know so many elements that are burned into my mind wonderfully are in this version. But not only that, it has modernity to it, and a wit, and a sense of humour and an acknowledgment of where we are now with Star Wars.
“But also, and what interests me,” the actress stresses, “is the fact that women are represented more than ever. They are represented with strength and positivity, and strength and negativity. It’s that forward vision, coupled with these elements that we’ve all grown up with that excites us so much. It’s not precious. It’s entertainment. I’m just so excited, and I truly think that it’s a recipe people are going to adore. I can’t wait for it to come out, if my mind hasn’t melted by then with how exciting this all is.”
Speaking about her role as Captain Phasma, Christie sees it as both a personal and political victory, saying it’s exciting and encouraging to see that such a hugely influential cultural phenomenon like Star Wars “has embraced the future and has embraced the world’s need for gender balance and female empowerment. It’s incredibly thrilling for me to be playing that part and I hope it inspires generations of women everywhere to go forward.”
Captain Phasma also defies the strict gender stereotypes that sci-fi flicks are often guilty of perpetuating. Phasma isn’t a damsel in distress, a pin-up or a one-dimensional villain, but a complex character who has survived her own struggles and trauma. As Christie created her character’s backstory, she was mindful of how few powerful women there have been in the Star Wars universe, and used this awareness of gender and power dynamics to add a layer of complexity to the role.
“In my mind, Captain Phasma gains particular enjoyment through her acts of cruelty because she is the only woman of rank as a Stormtrooper,” says Christie. “I would believe that would have been a very difficult path to take and she would have been treated quite brutally. So, it’s her misguided opportunity to exercise that hate on those around her.”
This cruelty and sadism becomes all the more unnerving merely because of the relative rarity of truly evil female characters who are motivated purely by their own desire and ambitions; think of the extreme reactions to the sociopathic Amy in Gone Girl, which ignited a fearful obsession with women’s capacity for evil. Christie revels in this subversion of expectations, noting that “we tend to associate women with being the kinder sex. So, when a woman makes the choice to be deliberately cruel, it’s seen as not in her nature. So, she is betraying her true nature, and anybody who does that, you feel could be capable of anything.”
But while TV and film are slowly creeping towards more empowering portrayals of women, they can often fall into the one-dimensional trope of the ‘Strong Female Character’, which eschews femininity and vulnerability in favour of traditionally masculine qualities, such as emotional stoicism and physical strength.
“Strong female characters interest me because they don’t have to be brutal,” says Christie. “They don’t have to be physical. I’m incredibly lucky to be playing a part of a female character that is well rounded and that we see women, not just strong and good, but strong and evil, so we get to see all those recesses of human nature. They are all represented and we can enjoy them. There is something faintly irresistible about Captain Phasma. I think it might be in the costume rather than me! Again, I think it’s forward thinking and modern for Star Wars to have that kind of character archetype and to investigate that side of femininity. I’m incredibly privileged to be playing that part.”
Ridley was also thrilled by the opportunity to explore the different sides to her character. To prepare for the role of Rey, who is an accomplished and intimidating warrior and scavenger, Ridley spent months training in order to transform from well-mannered London girl into badass action heroine. Fighting, sparring, climbing and staff fighting all became part of Ridley’s daily routine, as she was determined to not to rely on a stunt double, and do as many fight and action sequences herself as she could. She also found that the training revved her up for playing Rey.
“I was really pleased with the training as a personal thing. We have this incredibly strong female character and to have a strong female character is amazing. I’d never climbed before; I’d never done fight training before. It’s such an amazing feeling to scale a 30-foot wall, or get through a fight with an incredible swordsman. I feel like I held my own and that’s an amazing feeling.”
Rey undergoes an emotional transformation during the film, starting her journey as a wary loner who is thrown into the path of Finn (played by John Boyega) and finds herself dragged into a cross-galaxy quest. Over the course of her misadventures, Rey finds herself opening up to those around her and forging the supportive relationships that she had been denied for so long. Ridley felt a strong connection to Rey’s journey as she joined the cast of Star Wars, a newcomer in a film where returning stars like Harrison Ford and Carrie Fischer had a pre-existing relationship and shorthand. But Ridley was thrilled to find herself welcomed into the fold, just as Rey finds a new family in the film.
“The family thing translates everywhere. Even on set, it feels like a family. It’s that feeling of bonding. Because Rey is trying to find her place in this world in the same way I was trying to find my place in the world, the similarities were really nice. I felt so welcomed and taken in, and people seemed to care how I felt, which translates into the Rey thing as well. She suddenly has these people who care about her and she’s finding her place within that.”
According to Ridley, JJ Abrams plays a big part in creating a comfortable and familial atmosphere on set, and ensured that there was no adhering to hierarchies when it came to the younger generation of actors and the industry veterans.
“JJ is amazing,” gushes Ridley. “I’ve never really been on a film set before, and everyone adores him. He’s very kind, very generous. He was so great at the beginning because I was so nervous. He’s so patient, which is really important for me because I spent a lot of time going, ‘I can’t do this’. He made sure everyone on set was feeling great. There’s no one not worthy of a ‘hello’ and a ‘thank you’. There have been so many moments when he’s gotten on the mic and told everyone that the work they’re doing is incredible, which it is. They’re getting that warmth from him that is needed. In such a big film personal relationships can be lost. But, because he is who he is, they’re not at all. Everyone feels praise. Everyone feels loved. Everyone feels appreciated. That is so important. He’s created this incredible world, and in the real world he’s this incredible man as well.”
Christie agrees that “working with JJ Abrams is a real dream come true. I went and saw Star Trek at the cinema two or three times and watched it subsequently. I grew up with Star Trek; it was always put on for me to observe. But, there was something about JJ Abrams’ interpretation, and I feel it on  Star Wars too, that brings modernity, freshness, a real wit, and relevance to what is occurring in our world today. But it is not a message that is delivered in a heavy way – it’s a message that is delivered with entertainment and with truth.”
Both Christie and Ridley hope that Star Wars: The Force Awakens will not only change the perception of gender and femininity in the Star Wars universe, but in the film industry at large, acting as an inspiration for young women looking to see the full range of the female experience portrayed onscreen. Bearing this in mind, Ridley has some words of wisdom for young women searching for inspiration and fulfilment.
“I would say, be strong and be thoughtful and take care and realise how you’re affecting other people. Learn and grow and don’t be scared if things are offered to you that you’re not sure about but may change your life. Dive in feet first. Take everything you can and appreciate every day. Appreciate the people around you who support you and never feel on your own because you never are.”
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Star Wars: The Force Awakens is in cinemas now