A Star Wars screenwriter has explained why Rose Tico, played by Kelly Marie Tran, got barely more than a minute of screen time in The Rise Of Skywalker.
The Vietnamese-American actor had a significantly reduced role in the new film, which prompted the hashtag #RoseTicoDeservedBetter to trend on Twitter.
Fans felt that her limited screen time reflected acquiescence to the demands of the online bullies who had aimed abuse at Kelly Marie after the release of The Last Jedi in 2017.Chris Terrio, who co-wrote the film with director J.J. Abrams, told Awards Daily: “Well, first of all, J.J. and I adore Kelly Marie Tran. One of the reasons that Rose has a few less scenes than we would like her to have has to do with the difficulty of using Carrie’s footage in the way we wanted to.”
Carrie Fisher, who played the crucial role of Princess Leia Organa, died in 2016, but still appeared in the latest film thanks to deleted scenes, recycled footage and CGI.Terrio said Rose’s character was kept at the rebel base because the writers wanted Leia to work with another principal character.
“As the process evolved, a few scenes we’d written with Rose and Leia turned out to not meet the standard of photorealism that we’d hoped for,” he said. “Those scenes unfortunately fell out of the film.
“The last thing we were doing was deliberately trying to sideline Rose. We adore the character, and we adore Kelly – so much so that we anchored her with our favourite person in this galaxy, General Leia.”Kelly Marie was introduced as a major character in the previous instalment of the franchise, The Last Jedi, and was the first woman of colour to land a major role in the series.
Her character was not well-received by some fans, and she decided to leave social media after receiving relentless abuse, including racist comments.
The 30-year-old actor penned a moving op-ed for The
New York Times following her departure from social media, detailing the humiliation and hardships she’d suffered throughout her life as a woman of colour in America. She declared that she would not allow herself to be marginalised by online harassment.
Some fans were not satisfied with the writer’s explanation for Rose Tico’s absence in the new film and poked several holes in his reasoning:pic.twitter.com/ZuHD9HVdjd— Ivana Knapp (@Ivana_Knapp) December 29, 2019Blame the dead lady - nice— CJ (@pnwrunnerlass) December 29, 2019Show me the weakest excuse for sidelining a woman of color— Claire Sangster like Gangster but with a S (@originalsangsta) December 29, 2019People disliking the character, even for non-racist reasons, is still not an excuse to sideline her. Because in the end her sidelining results in plotholes and regression of character development, especially for Finn.— The "C" in "C-Beams" means "Chris" (@DarthFleigus) December 28, 2019‘We didn’t want to limit her screen-time so we purposefully anchored her to a character who we knew from the get-go would have limited screen-time and dialogue while the “trio” plus 3PO and BB-8 went on an adventure.’ pic.twitter.com/4W62o1i3ut— Will G. (@Fiery_Sprite) December 27, 2019the way they did kelly marie tran's character dirty after all the backlash and racist harassment she received in tlj making her character, a main part of the cast to a mere extra with two lines is very sad... rose tico deserved better pic.twitter.com/7F6xnl4xE2— luca / finnpoe is 🏳️🌈 PERIOD (@mygayenergy) December 20, 2019We hope Kelly Marie Tran knows that there were so many fans looking forward to seeing Rose in IX. Where her character would go, whether she’d have developed a friendship with Rey, how she’d have forged a path of leadership in the Resistance. We’re angry and disappointed for her.— Scavenger's Hoard (@ScavengersHoard) December 26, 2019READ MORE... Star Wars' Oscar Isaac Blames 'Disney Overlords' For Lack Of Romance Between Poe And Finn Remembering The Legendary Carrie Fisher With 20 Of Her Wisest And Wittiest Quotes
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