The good, the bad and the deadly: From Princess Leia to Kylo Ren, the galactic superstars of Star Wars unmasked

Carrie Fisher's General Leia has dumped the ‘Danish pastries’ hairdo – and now leads the Resistance, while Adam Driver plays Kylo Ren, who idolises Darth Vader and wants to be the evil son Luke Skywalker failed to become

Kylo Ren, the evil Darth Vader fan

Adam Driver plays Kylo Ren, who idolises Darth Vader and wants to be the evil son Luke Skywalker failed to become. As part of the First Order he is determined to destroy the Resistance

Kylo Ren, played by New York actor Adam Driver, concealed beneath a menacing mask and in possession of an eye-catching three-bladed lightsaber, is devoted to fulfilling Darth Vader¿s destiny

Kylo Ren, played by New York actor Adam Driver, concealed beneath a menacing mask and in possession of an eye-catching three-bladed lightsaber, is devoted to fulfilling Darth Vader’s destiny

How do you top Darth Vader, the greatest villain in movie history? This was the dilemma that faced JJ Abrams when he decided to take on the Star Wars universe. His solution was to admit he couldn’t do any better. 

Instead, why not make the new baddie Vader’s biggest fan?

Kylo Ren, played by New York actor Adam Driver, concealed beneath a menacing mask and in possession of an eye-catching three-bladed lightsaber, is devoted to fulfilling Vader’s destiny and become the evil son that Luke Skywalker turned out not to be. 

With JJ, it’s all about character and story, not special effects,’ says Driver. 

While the 31-year-old, 6ft 3in ex-marine refuses to be drawn on his character’s role, director Abrams has said: ‘The lightsaber is something that he built himself, and is as dangerous and as fierce and as ragged as the character.’

 

Princess Leia? That’s General to you 

Carrie Fisher plays General Leia, who has dumped the ‘Danish pastries’ hairdo – and now leads the Resistance 

'You¿ve got to live up to something. I am Princess Leia. Princess Leia is me. My life has informed who she is, and she¿s informed who I¿ve had to be,' said Carrie Fisher

'You’ve got to live up to something. I am Princess Leia. Princess Leia is me. My life has informed who she is, and she’s informed who I’ve had to be,' said Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher loves to send up her career-defining role in Star Wars. 

She even jokes that she pushed for a return of the celebrated ‘Danish pastries’ hairstyle: ‘I wanted little old Leia to walk by a window wearing that hairdo on the way to the bathtub,’ the 59-year-old actress laughs. ‘I guess they thought it would be too distracting.’ 

She says returning to her signature role was daunting initially. 

'You’ve got to live up to something. I am Princess Leia. Princess Leia is me. My life has informed who she is, and she’s informed who I’ve had to be.’

She lost 35lb to get back into shape, and once the six-month shoot was under way, she ‘had a ball’ alongside so many old friends. 

The Force Awakens finds Leia no longer a princess, but a general. She is the leader of the Resistance with a heavy responsibility on her shoulders. 

¿I wanted little old Leia to walk by a window wearing that hairdo on the way to the bathtub. I guess they thought it would be too distracting,' said Carrie

‘I wanted little old Leia to walk by a window wearing that hairdo on the way to the bathtub. I guess they thought it would be too distracting,' said Carrie

‘There’s not much goofing around where Leia’s concerned,’ Fisher explains, carefully sidestepping spoilers. 

In the 32 years since Return Of The Jedi, there have been some good roles, but Fisher favoured writing, most famously in Postcards From The Edge, a fictionalised biography that depicted her ‘traumatic’ life growing up as the daughter of Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds and was frank about her battle with drugs and booze. 

‘I did some stupid things,’ she confesses. 

 

Mr Merciless

Domhnall Gleeson plays General Hux, dedicated to crushing the Resistance 

JJ Abrams was so intent on casting Domhnall Gleeson that he let him read the top-secret script. ¿That night I had a panic attack thinking, What have I done? I like my privacy...¿

JJ Abrams was so intent on casting Domhnall Gleeson that he let him read the top-secret script. ‘That night I had a panic attack thinking, What have I done? I like my privacy...’

Gleeson admits he panicked when the offer arrived to be in the film. He’d met JJ Abrams and expressed his discomfort at signing up for something without having read the script. 

‘I told him, “I just feel weird about it,”’ explains the 32-year-old.

 Abrams was so intent on casting Gleeson that he let him read the top-secret script. 

‘That night I had a panic attack thinking, What have I done? I like my privacy...’ 

Hux is a senior figure in the First Order, the new bad guys of the galaxy. Abrams described him to Gleeson as ‘merciless’. Gleeson laughs, saying: ‘He’s got an English accent so he can’t be good!’ 

 

Gun girl

Gwendoline Christie plays Captain Phasma, the first female Stormtrooper of rank 

¿I always felt unusual because of my height and it felt like a world I could inhabit, so I became like a dog with a bone: eventually I wore them down,' said Gwendoline Christie

‘I always felt unusual because of my height and it felt like a world I could inhabit, so I became like a dog with a bone: eventually I wore them down,' said Gwendoline Christie

Phasma is a terrifying chrome-clad Stormtrooper who enjoys cruelty. 

‘Star Wars has a special meaning to me,’ says Gwendoline Christie, the 6ft 3in actress who plays Brienne of Tarth in Game Of Thrones. 

‘I always felt unusual because of my height and it felt like a world I could inhabit, so I became like a dog with a bone: eventually I wore them down.’ 

Captain Phasma is the only woman of rank as a Stormtrooper. 

‘I wanted the character to have femininity and sass. Phasma has a phenomenal blaster and when I put the helmet on, I felt like I could probably get away with blue murder.’ 

  

Invisible Jedi Luke

Mark Hamill plays Luke Skywalker, once the hero of the franchise, now a mysterious figure living in the shadows 

Luke Skywalker is in the new film ¿ the hooded figure in the second trailer laying a robotic hand on R2-D2 ¿ but what part the Jedi master plays remains top secret

Luke Skywalker is in the new film – the hooded figure in the second trailer laying a robotic hand on R2-D2 – but what part the Jedi master plays remains top secret

Luke Skywalker is nowhere to be seen. Not on the posters, the trailers or any advance publicity. His whereabouts are the central mystery of The Force Awakens. 

‘I’m not even authorised to tell you I’m in Episode VII,’ he laughs. 

But Luke is in the new film – the hooded figure in the second trailer laying a robotic hand on R2-D2 – but what part the Jedi master plays remains top secret. 

Although, we suspect he comes in possession of an Obi-wan-like beard. 

‘It’s crazy,’ the actor sighs, ‘there’s an amount of money where if it leaks because of me, I don’t get that payment. If I keep it a secret until the day it comes out, I get that payment. I’m good at secrets!’

 

Is this really Solo’s girl?

Daisy Ridley plays Rey, marooned as a child on the planet Jakku and forced to scavenge to survive; John Boyega plays Finn, a Stormtrooper with a conscience

¿Young girls can look at Rey and know they can wear trousers, that they don¿t have to show off their bodies,' said Daisy Ridley who plays Rey, marooned as a child on the planet Jakku and forced to scavenge to survive

‘Young girls can look at Rey and know they can wear trousers, that they don’t have to show off their bodies,' said Daisy Ridley who plays Rey, marooned as a child on the planet Jakku and forced to scavenge to survive

Daisy Ridley had four or five auditions over seven months before the 23-year-old decided she could no longer stand the suspense and rang director JJ Abrams to find out if she had the part. 

‘I finally got through and he told me I’d be starring in Star Wars and my life was going to change.’ Then she was too stunned to talk.

Growing up in west London, she admits to not being a Star Wars fan, only getting into acting because she was ‘very naughty’ as a child (her mother enrolled her in the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts to keep her busy). She does have acting blood in her family: her great uncle Arnold Ridley was Private Godfrey in Dad’s Army.

‘Young girls can look at Rey and know they can wear trousers, that they don’t have to show off their bodies. 

'Most of the comments I get are from parents who say how wonderful it is that their little girls can see this character. 

'Though I don’t think I’ll ever be an idol like Carrie was as Princess Leia.’

She says training for the role was extreme. ‘JJ wanted me to look like I work out. We did hand-to-hand [combat] and boxing. The running in sand was a killer.’

There has been fevered speculation that Rey, who has no surname, is the daughter of Han Solo and Princess Leia, but all Ridley will reveal is that she gets to ride the Millennium Falcon with Harrison Ford’s Han Solo. 

‘I went to get into the pilot’s seat,’ she cringes, ‘and he was, like, “That’s mine.” I was genuinely mortified.’

Peckham boy John Boyega learned he was in the movie over breakfast with JJ Abrams in a café in Mayfair. 

‘Everything stopped,’ says Boyega. ‘All the time it was going through my head, ‘‘He just said I’m the new star in Star Wars!” ’

Casting was like The X Factor, he jokes. ‘Recall after recall, then a screen test in which Chewbacca came… seven months of extreme auditioning.’ 

On his first day, on location in Abu Dhabi, Boyega walked on set to see a life-size TIE Fighter crushed into the sand. 

‘I was trying to be professional,’ he laughs, ‘but every time JJ would come up to me with a note, I’d be like, “It’s a TIE Fighter!’’ ’

Born in south London to Nigerian parents, it was Boyega’s father who introduced him to the original trilogy. A scholarship to Theatre Peckham led to a role in cult alien movie Attack The Block, which brought him to the attention of Abrams.

Finn is a Stormtrooper attacked by his conscience. 

‘He has a freak-out, and that’s when we meet him.’ 

But apart from that, he hasn’t told a soul about the plot, not even Mum. If he squeals, Boyega laughs, ‘I would be an extra on EastEnders for ever!’

 

Joy of droids

Chewbacca and C-3PO are back, along with R2-D2. But everybody’s favourite mini-droid has competition in the cuteness stakes... roll forward BB-8 

While they have made a new ¿Chewie suit¿ it¿s still made from the yak fur they used in 1976
Kenny Baker is back inside R2-D2 and Anthony Daniels resumes control of the fuss-budget protocol droid, C-3PO

While they have made a new ‘Chewie suit’ it’s still made from the yak fur they used in 1976; Kenny Baker is back inside R2-D2 and Anthony Daniels resumes control of the fuss-budget protocol droid, C-3PO

When filming began, Peter Mayhew, the 7ft 5in actor beneath the fur of Chewbacca, found himself right back at home. It was if nothing had changed in the 32 years since he last visited Star Wars. 

‘JJ [Abrams] told me that Episode VII was going to look as original as possible,’ the 71-year-old reports from the set. 

And while they have made a new ‘Chewie suit’ it’s still made from the yak fur they used in 1976. 

‘But it’s better,’ he says with relief. ‘It’s lighter.’ 

Kenny Baker, meanwhile, is back inside R2-D2 and Anthony Daniels resumes control of the fuss-budget protocol droid, C-3PO. 

The 69-year-old actor from Salisbury has been present in all seven films – as Daniels likes to point out, he uttered the very first line in any Star Wars movie. 

‘In Episode VII, C-3PO is pretty much how you would remember him. There are tiny nuances and fans will enjoy that. 

'C-3PO now has a red arm. His left arm is a fairly brutal, red, rusty, sanguine thing. Something has happened to him in the last 30 years…’ 

The new droid on the block is a ball with a head: cheeky, innocent and adorable. BB-8 was originally a concept meant for R2-D2 that proved impossible in 1976. 

Rediscovering the idea, Abrams a quick sketch on a napkin, two circles atop one another and so created BB-8. 

Like his famous counterparts, the director was determined BB-8 would be real, and not CGI. 

 

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.