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‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ star Oscar Isaac is surprisingly pro-Jar Jar – Metro US

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ star Oscar Isaac is surprisingly pro-Jar Jar

Oscar Isaac has been doing a commendable job of not spilling any spoilers about “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” in which he plays Poe Dameron, one of the new generation of heroes in the storied franchise — and the Resistance’s best pilot. Luckily while filming, Harrison Ford was around to give him some pointers on piloting a spaceship — or so Isaac thought.

How difficult or easy has it been for you to keep your mouth shut about what happens in the film?
Pretty easy. It’s kind of like when you have a gift for somebody, you don’t want to tell them what it is before they open it.

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What was your own personal history with the franchise growing up?
The first film I ever watched in the theater was “Return of the Jedi,” so it made a huge impression on me and I became a big fan of it. My family are huge fans so we would dress up and do Star Wars-themed parties whenever the new movies would come out and collect the toys. We would dress up as the characters and throw parties and learn the fight scenes.

What would you dress up as?
I’d dress up as a gonk droid. It’s a box. Just a gray box. Very lazy.

As an actor, how do you wrap your mind around joining a franchise like this?
It’s hard to wrap your mind around it. In a way you just try to diminish the whole thing a little bit and try to just do the job that you know how to do. Which is, how do you create this character? How do you make it interesting for yourself? How do you make him compelling and honest? So it was more about doing that and not thinking so much about the size of it.

OK, so what’s your honest opinion of Jar Jar Binks?
Am I happy about Jar Jar Binks or not happy about Jar Jar Binks? Um … uh … I love Jar Jar Binks.

Really? Because, you know, he has his detractors out there.
That’s why, I always route for the underdog. Or the under-Gungan.

There’s a fan theory now that he’s actually a Sith Lord.
I know, I’ve heard about this. It’s a bit of a reach, I think. He’s just all good.

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And are you excited to work with Rian Johnson next on “Episode VII”?
I hope I get to.

You’re a “Star Wars” fan, so did you have embarrassing interactions with the original trilogy cast?
Not too embarrassing, no. Harrison is very funny and I would ask him questions about piloting and how I should I pilot and what I should do, and he said “Well, it’s in space. So the rules don’t apply, just make it up.” I also asked him, “How are you going to do all the action stuff?” And he just said, “I’m going to act it.”

Follow Ned Ehrbar on Twitter:@nedrick