Maybe I just haven’t been paying attention, but I wasn’t aware that there’ve been rumors about whether or not Lupita Nyong’o will appear in the next “Star Wars” movie, “Episode VIII.” Apparently there have been concerns, as Ellen DeGeneres mentions in the below clip from her daytime talk-show, on which Nyong’o appeared today to talk about her upcoming movie, “The Queen of Katwe,” which opens this weekend.
The rumors can now be officially buried because the actress confirms that she will indeed be in “Star Wars: Episode VIII,” as her character Maz Kanata, contrary to what’s been reported.
“I don’t know where this rumor came from. I have no idea,” the Nyong’o said on the talk show.
The actress added that she’d already filmed her scenes for the upcoming movie, and, unless something unexpected happens, like her scenes don’t end up in the final film for one reasons or another, Kanata will be in “Episode VIII.”
“You know you never really know when you shoot your scenes in a movie which ones are going to make it and all that, so it’s always fingers crossed,” she continued. “ But as far as I know I’m in it.
The film, which is being directed by Rian Johnson (“Looper,” “Brick”), is set for a December 2017 release.
Director of “Episode VII” J.J. Abrams said last year that Kanata’s backstory, which isn’t included in that movie, will be forthcoming “in other venues,” like maybe Maz Kanata comic books, games, or even an animated or, possibly a live-action series made for TV or the web. Anything’s possible, especially as Disney made it explicitly clear that it planned to fully exploit the movie franchise and its characters, on the big and small screens.
“I wanted to do the creature as a puppet originally,” Abrams said about Kanata, “But once we figured out the things that she was required to do, it felt like [performance capture] was the way to go… Maz needed to look and feel and be just like one of those creatures. And given her mobility, and given the role that she played, it became clear that that was one creature where we should use the tool of CG… But the performance was all Lupita. She was there on set, and we did capture sessions afterwards as well, and I can’t say enough about working with her.”
Nyong’o was coached on performance-capture by the king of craft himself, Andy Serkis (Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings,” Caesar in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”), who also plays a character in “Force Awakens.”
“The Queen of Katwe” opens this Friday in a limited theatrical release to start.
Watch Nyong’o’s conversation with Ellen below: