Felicity Jones Defends 'Rogue One' Reshoots: 'Actually, We Could Do This Better'

Reshoots are common. Most cinephiles know that. And yet, when reports came out that "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" was returning for "extensive reshoots," it made many fans nervous. Sources reported the initial screening "was tonally off what a 'classic' Star Wars movie should feel like." Now The Hollywood Reporter has a cover story with star Felicity Jones, who has top billing as Jyn Erso, with her take on the reshoots and more.

As THR noted, this role has the most star-making potential for Jones, and also carries the biggest risks:

"It's her biggest payday to date (seven figures, while no other castmember received even mid-six figures, according to sources), but she takes the hardest PR hit if the film doesn't match 'Force Awakens' numbers. And there have been worrying reports of reshoots (some believe to be as much as $30 million worth)."

Here's what Jones told THR about the reshoots:

"Obviously when you come to the edit, you see the film come together and you think, 'Actually, we could do this better, and this would make more sense if we did this.' I've done it so many times. I mean, you wouldn't just give your first draft on this story, would you?"

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy sounded frustrated in her response to the reshoots, but basically acknowledged that this is the heavy burden that comes with the crown of Star Wars:

"I'm sure if you picked up the phone and called every single large, technical movie and said, 'You ever gone in and done reshoots?' they'd all say, 'Oh God, yes.' So why has it turned into a big story? Because it's Star Wars, and they put a spotlight and scrutinize every single thing that gets done. But it was always planned and nothing unusual."

Kennedy, the story notes, was the first to think of Felicity Jones for the lead role of Jyn, but Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn was the one to seal the deal. As Kennedy explained:

"Alan was incredibly excited by Felicity's work and loved her as an actress. She's relatively petite, but you would never know it. 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 told THR that, in prep for Jyn, she spent hours watching music videos, especially of Florence Welch in Florence + the Machine. As Jones explained:

"So much of Jyn is movement. It became a very important part of finding her. She walks almost a bit like a caged animal. Her fight sequences become like dances."

We'll see that caged animal in action when "Rogue One" is released on December 16th, 2016. Read the rest of her cover story for her reaction to the death of her "Like Crazy" co-star Anton Yelchin, and how she almost stopped "Inferno" in its tracks with her contract demands.

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