“People have asked me if I think Kylo Ren was just playing with him [Han] the whole time, if he meant to kill him from the beginning. And the truth is, I think Kylo Ren in this moment is actually being convinced to walk away from this. Snoke is, as Han says, using him, and I think that somewhere Ben knows this. But I think that he can’t accept it. Deep down he has gone too far.[…] But I don’t think that in this moment this is a put on. I think that Ben is legitimately going to give up. But then, the idea was that in this moment, where he’s taking the lightsaber and offering it to him as a gesture, the sun finally is drained from the sky. And you see the light go away. And now they’re in this darkness. And darkness takes over. And as if this moment isn’t disturbing enough, he pushes the saber further in and says these terrifying two words. “Thank You.” In Kylo’s mind, what he has just done seals the deal. It’s the ultimate proof to Snoke that he is to be trusted, that he will not be seduced by the light. And I think, the instant that he’s done it, he regrets it.”
“You’re watching two parents grappling over an incredibly difficult child. And, I think, that’s a very relatable parental conversation. To see it between Han and Leia, I think, was particularly interesting. And you just see how what happened with their son, Ben, it really ripped them apart. When Leia mentions Supreme Leader Snoke, you realise that they are aware of this figure that is responsible for seducing their son over to the dark side. And you realise that Han has been on the run trying to get away from this this whole time. And in this moment, Leia implores Han not to give up. To do anything he can to save their son.”
“They had this kid who was born equal parts good and evil. He is someone who is broken….But it’s more than just having a bad seed as a kid. Snoke had targeted this kid, knew that this kid was gonna be incredibly powerful in the force and wanted him as an ally. So this mother and father had a target for a son. Someone was watching their boy. And these parents aren’t there enough to guide him. ”
“One of the more interesting for me was, Kylo Ren, especially his notion of moving forward and cutting off his past.But if you think that’s progressing you’re probably fooling yourself. The past is there and it’s always going to be. That’s the lesson.”
“So, here’s the moment, where Supreme Leader Snoke doubts that Kylo Ren is strong enough to resist the overture of love from his father. And it’s the first time you see that Kylo Ren might even have some self-doubt. He’s trying to defend himself, but Snoke is not convinced.”
“And because of Vader, I think you expect him to need the mask. That, like Vader, it’s some kind of breathing apparatus, some sort of necessity. But when his mask comes off, you see Adam Driver, and he just looks like a sort of prince.”
“One of the new relationships that we were focusing on was between Kylo Ren and Rey. They’ve never met but he’s heard of this girl. And so, now comes a moment when their meeting is inevitable. […] And now we’re back to our heroine. And this moment where she is about to, for the first time, be confronted by Kylo Ren, a character who she’s going to have a very interesting relationship with moving forward.”
“So the idea here is that Kylo Ren’s gotten inside of Rey’s head, sees that she has seen the map and is now letting go of the droid as his goal, and focusing just on her. And clearly you think, well he must be able to just extract the information he wants now. But because he’s taken her, you get a sense that there might be something else going on here.”
“And now, these two disparate pieces [refers to Kylo and Rey] come together.”
“REY’S PARENTS ARE NOT IN EPISODE VII”
“I don’t like going to the movies to feel depressed and diminished. The reason you go to the movie is to feel bigger and stronger and happier. They [characters] are in a universe that is spiritual and that is optimistic”
"All that matters to me is the love story. Sometimes, it’s obvious, sometimes a bit more complicated. It’s the thing I had to find first. Without doubt, but I already know I want to approach this project in a different way because Star Wars, it’s a special world.”
“What makes this story have a beating heart? What makes it romantic or fun or surprising… We simply approached this narrative from the point of view that this is a story about a young man and a young woman, not with the idea that we can do anything we want.”
“When Rian who I admire enormously and adore, came on board… He as a spectacular writer and director has taken those things and has written an amazing script that I think will be an incredible next chapter.”
Asked if fan outcry would at all impact his vision for the upcoming film, Abrams was clear: “Not in the least.There’s a lot that I would like to say about it, but I feel like it’s a little early to be having the ‘Episode IX’ conversation”
Rian Johnson: “So I think he [J.J.] set up this very interesting dynamic [between Kylo and Rey]. And now, to get to hand it back to J.J. and see how it gets resolved, I’m really, really excited to see what happens.”
Rian Johnson: “Well I’ll say the two characters and how they [interact], like in The Force Awakens, the interrogation scene, that was one of the most intriguing scenes to me both on the page and when I saw the scene that J.J. created.”
Rian Johnson: “He was into it. And I remember that I pitched him the story at the very beginning, and he had notes, but he wasn’t like, ‘Oh my God, what the hell are you doing?’ [Laughs] No, he was into it because I think he was into the storytelling. He’s a great storyteller himself and he saw the potential of each one of these beats. I think he saw it for what we were going for, which is not… we weren’t going for, 'Let’s subvert a Star Wars movie.’ We were going for 'Let’s make a great Star Wars movie that has things in it that will push the limits of what we can do.”
Greg Grunberg (who plays X-Wing pilot Snap Wexley in “The Force Awakens”):
“He read it [TLJ script] and said something he never, ever says. He said, ‘It’s so good, I wish I were making it.’ He may have said something one time on ‘Lost’ with Damon [Lindelof], but I never hear him express regret like that.”
