Things are falling apart.
Into this chaos rises a new leader: Laura Derns Vice Admiral Holdo.
She enters the Resistance to shake things up, Dern tells EW.
Oscar Isaac: Ed Miller/© 2017 Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved; Laura Dern: David James/© 2017 Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved
The question is whether thats a good thing.
In real life, we all know what its like to meet a new boss.
Sometimes you see eye-to-eye.
© 2017 Lucasfilm Ltd.
Sometimes its a disaster.
Fans arent supposed to know whether they should trust her.
Their stories are interlocked, even if theyre at odds.
Laura Dern/Instagram
Poes loyalty is to Leia.
And Holdo has a different style, a different approach, and very different ideas.
But even the audience isnt supposed to know whether shes right.
Some of it has to do with judging people based on their appearances.
She looks like polished brass amongst the dingy and battered Resistance survivors.
And hes not alone.
Many others in the Resistance also lack confidence in their new leader.
The question is whether she can win over the battle-weary warriors.
The actress says this part of the storyline relates to our own world.
Holdo represents stereotypes about women bosses, Dern says.
Like if she looks a certain way, she cant achieve the job or she must be brazen.
You know, all the different versions of what we label someone.
I mean, there are reasons why I might look the way I look.
I think its beautifully subversive, Dern says of Holdos military glamour.
And all I know is I think its so cool.
I love the way she looks.
I want to be Holdo for Halloween.
Does that just seem horrific and narcissistic?
I get a free pass.
Hey,Kelly Marie Tran dressed up as a Porg.
You do you, Laura Dern.
Thats a very Holdo attitude, too.
The admiral barges in and doesnt care what people think, or whether shes welcomed or meets approval.
Shes headstrong, but not necessarily wrong.
Sometimes you need somebody to show up and yeah, teach you a thing or two, Dern says.
Swagger clashes with swagger.
But game also recognizes game.
Poe wants to fight; she wants to strategize.
He doesnt necessarily agree with the way Holdo sees the role of the Resistance in this particular moment.
Ive always worked under her for the Resistance, therefore with Leia being the boss, Dern says.
In a galaxy full of exotic creatures, she is one of a kind.
She and Poe Dameron have learned from the same master.
But of course, inStar Wars, students sometimes have a habit of going astray.
That could apply to either one of them.
Maybe butting up against each other will keep them on the right path.
