As we all know, there was one major character death in Star Wars: the Force Awakens, as Han Solo met his maker by the hand (and lightsaber) of his twisted son Kylo Ren – but in an early draft of the script by J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, one of the new young faces we meet in the movie was also set to perish.
During an interview with GQ, Oscar Isaac reveals that his hot-shot X-Wing pilot, Poe Dameron, originally died in the first act, presumably as a result of the TIE Fighter crash that he ultimately ends up walking away from in the finished film. After finding this out, the actor was initially hesitant to take the role, but eventually decided to go for it. By that stage, Abrams had decided to allow Dameron to live to fight another day anyway.
I went back home [to New York], and I thought about it, then I wrote him and said, ‘Okay. I’ll do it!’ I figured it would be a cameo: I’ll come in, do my thing, and maybe it’s actually better not to have to sign myself up for three movies. By that time, though, things had changed and Abrams soon wrote back: ‘Never mind. I’ve figured it out. You’re in the whole movie now.’ I was like, ‘Holy shit! Alright, cool.’
Definitely interesting – but remember, if Dameron was originally supposed to die, there’s every chance that he won’t survive ’till the end of the trilogy.
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