Whitaker plays a shadowy freedom-fighter Saw Gerrera, a figure with a surprisingly deep background in galactic history, in the 'Star Wars' standalone movie.
- Jun 23, 2016
AceShowbiz - Details of the characters in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" have been revealed. The interesting tidbits are revealed via EW, which features the movie characters in the covers of its latest edition. The new details include info about Forest Whitaker's mysterious character among other things.
In the "Star Wars" standalone movie, Whitaker plays Gerrera. The character first made appearance in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" animated series. He is a guerrilla soldier from the planet Onderon who became the self-appointed leader of a rebel unit fighting against Count Dooku's forces in the animated film. As for Whitaker's Gerrera, he is more battle-hardened with the years, and maybe a little shellshocked. He has continued to fight and become something - and it's not quite a hero. He's a man who has tried to do the right thing by occasionally doing questionable things.
The lead character in the film is Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), who is described as a streetwise delinquent who has been on her own since fifteen. She has fighting skills and knowledge of the galactic underworld that the Rebel Alliance desperately needs. Jyn's father, Galen Erso, is played by Mads Mikkelsen. Jyn's estranged father has doomsday knowledge that is sought by both the Empire and the Rebellion.
The next character is a Rebel Alliance Officer Captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna). He is described as conveying a fair amount of experience and the reality of what it's like to do this every day, to try to figure out how to resist the Empire effectively and intelligently. Meanwhile, Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen) is no Jedi, but he's devoted to their ways and has used his spirituality to overcome his blindness and become a formidable warrior.
As for Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen), he is heavily armored and prefers a blaster to hokey religions and ancient weapons, but he is devoted to protecting his friend Chirrut at all costs. Another character is Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed). He tends to be hot-headed, but any abrasiveness is overshadowed by his skills in the air - and the void of space. The next character is K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), a powerful security droid which is described as "the antithesis of C-3PO."
On the opposing side, there's Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), the main villain, who is an ambitious Imperial apparatchik who intends to use his squad of Deathtroopers to pulverize the Rebel uprising and ascend into the Emperor's graces - while hopefully avoiding the wrath of his enforcer, Darth Vader.
Meet all the new characters in '#RogueOne: A #StarWars Story': https://t.co/3HHjSFb6QK �����°��¯��¿��½��¯��¿��½�����±�����°��¯��¿��½��¯��¿��½��¯��¿��½ pic.twitter.com/RdkFT6m685
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) June 22, 2016
The story follows Jyn Erso, a Rebellion soldier and criminal, who is about to experience her biggest challenge when Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) sets her out on a mission to steal the plans for the Death Star. With the aid of the Rebels, a master swordsman, and non-allied forces, Jyn will be in for something bigger than she thinks.
Based on a screenplay written by Chris Weitz, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" is slated to hit U.S. theaters on December 16.
