Jyn Erso is not someone to mess with.
In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Erso’s team of Rebels will embark on a dangerous and clandestine mission from which they might not return, but along the way, Jyn is going to have some seriously wild hand-to-hand battles.
Will Jyn be taking on a sea of stormtroopers? Maybe her (possibly Rebel) captors? Or, perhaps Orson Krennic, the man who betrayed her father? Any and all of the above?
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Felicity Jones explained that to prepare for her roles, she gathers things that help her inhabit the mind and body of her characters. For some characters, Jones creates a scrapbook. For others, she does in-person research. And for others still — like Jyn — that research means Florence and the Machine music videos. Jones said that prior to shooting Rogue One, she used music videos to prepare for the physical aspect of the role.
“So much of Jyn is movement,” Jones told THR. “It became a very important part of finding her. She walks almost a bit like a caged animal. Her fight sequences become like dances.”
Even though Jones isn’t the most physically imposing figure, Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, points out that her presence fit the role perfectly.
“She’s relatively petite, but you would never know it,” said Kennedy. “I mean, she comes off very strong and physical and capable, and all of those things were the qualities that we were looking for.”
Jones also reemphasized that characters like Jyn wouldn’t exist without the work of Sigourney Weaver in Alien, and we know that there’s going to be plenty of Ellen Ripley’s DNA in Jyn Erso.
Rogue One hits theaters on December 16.
