The creator of Doctor Aphra and the current writer – that’s Kieron Gillen and Alyssa Wong – discuss the creation and evolution of Doctor Chelli Aphra with the characters greatest cosplayer Bria LaVorgna, delving into Aphra’s personal life and why it’s so vital to discuss during Pride Month.
StarWars.com: Kieron, I know you just said you don’t really plan for the future, but when you first started writing Aphra, was the intent always that she was going to be a lesbian or is that something you sort of learned about her along the way as you kept writing?
Kieron Gillen: That’s what we learned. All I really knew about [Aphra’s] sexuality was, “She doesn’t want to sleep with Vader.” That isn’t what her relationship’s like. I know there’s a lot of people who like Aphra who may disagree with me, but that was the core thing. No, it’s not that kind of relationship. It’s just not, and that was the building block for me of her.
It was actually adjacent [to what] Alyssa was saying; it seems more real when someone else does something. I always feel like that about work for hire. When it’s just you writing a character, there’s a sense of unreality to it. It’s like, Aphra didn’t feel as real as Vader or Luke or Han or anyone else because I was writing them, but then Jason [Aaron] took her over for an arc [in the monthly Star Wars series], “Rebel Jail,” and then she became more real because she had a life outside of me. It was Jason who said, “I want to hint on a past relationship with Sana,” and I said, “Great, go for it!” And then, and from that moment, I know she’s a lesbian. That was immediate for me.
Why did I lean a lesbian rather than bisexual? That’s partially because I just think I’ve made more bisexual [characters]. Maybe it was that simple. [Alyssa laughs.] There’s a bit in my brain as a creator, like, what have I done more of? [Laughs.] Speaking as somebody [who’s], you know, bisexual himself, obviously I’m very pro bisexual visibility. I’d be very self-defeating if I wasn’t, but it just seemed right, I guess. I quite like the fact that immediately means, “Oh, she’s not going to go into a romance with Luke or Han or any of those.” Her relationship is, by definition, defined to be different and that felt quite useful to take off the table. That was kind of subconscious and she just always seemed more of a lesbian. I don’t want to almost over-intellectualize it. She just seemed like a lesbian to me. That was just it.
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