In a really charming interview, Elizabeth Angell from Romper and her two kids caught up with Star Wars director Bryce Dallas Howard to talk George Lucas, The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, which Howard lets slip will be hugely satisfying to fans of all things The Clone Wars.
EA: how much did you know about Star Wars before you became involved and how much research did you have to do to direct the Mandalorian?
BDH: Growing up, our dad was, and still is to this day, very good friends with George Lucas who created Star Wars. We’re close in age to his kids. Last time I saw him, George was like, “I have a picture of all of you all in the bathtub together.” I was like, “Awesome, George.” And so, every single year for Christmas, we would get Star Wars figurines. Before I was even old enough to know who the characters were and what the stories were, I was getting these little figurines, and I was very curious about it, and I was really into it. I learned about Star Wars first through the toys. And when I was old enough to watch the movies, of course we watched the movies. And then I got even luckier, because when I was 15 years old, I went to a summer camp, and one of my friends at that summer camp is a woman named Natalie Portman.
And right after we were at this camp together, she went and filmed the prequels. Since I knew George and I was friends with Natalie, and she was pretty young, she wanted to have a friend come out and visit. And so I got to go out to the set. So when I actually got to direct on Mandalorian, I didn’t realize how well I knew Star Wars, but I knew it pretty well. Of course there’s always more to learn. And there’s this guy, Dave Filoni — do you know who Dave Filoni is?
Henry (my son): Yes!
BDH: Yeah. So, Dave Filoni, he knows Star Wars better than anyone other than George, and he was taught by George when he was doing all of the Clone Wars because they did that together. And we worked together on Mandalorian.
H: I love Clone Wars. It’s my favorite.
BDH: Without giving anything away, you are going to love the Ahsoka show that’s coming up. I cannot tell you anything, but what I can say is that you being a fan of the Clone Wars will be greatly rewarded.
- Karpyshyn, Drew (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 336 Pages - 04/05/2022 (Publication Date) - Random House Worlds (Publisher)
