The above video was created by Star Wars Explained.
When Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in theaters later this year, fans will return to Rey, Poe, Finn, and Leia’s fight against the First Order. Thankfully they won’t be alone, as three new characters will be joining the fight: Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), DJ (Benicio Del Toro), and Admiral Amylin Holdo (Laura Dern).
Admiral Holdo, seen in the video above, is played by actress Laura Dern. Dern has graced our screens for over 37 years! Her most notable films include Jurassic Park, October Sky, and The Fault in Our Stars. She most recently portrayed the elusive Diane in Twin Peaks Season 3 and she won an Emmy for her performance in HBO’s Big Little Lies.
Let’s explore her character Admiral Amilyn Holdo.
Amilyn in Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Amilyn Holdo is from the planet Gatalenta, a planet that has outlawed slavery and whose people believe in the Jedi. Amilyn grew up during the time of the Empire, when Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine ruled the galaxy with their iron fists. She was a contemporary of a young Princess Leia (more on that below). When we meet her in The Last Jedi, she and General Leia will be contemporaries again, this time as leaders of the new Republic and Rebellion, respectively.
While the images we’ve seen so far have shown her in ceremonial and leadership roles, it’s possible she’s not the type of woman to stay behind and only strategize. As seen in the video above, Amilyn does get a chance to fire a weapon in The Last Jedi. At some point she will get into a gun fight.
Can She Be Trusted?
According to a recent EW interview with Dern and Poe Dameron actor Oscar Isaac, Holdo is not easily trusted by anyone when she comes on board as a Resistance leader. “She doesn’t particularly look like your typical military leader, and so I think there’s a bit of distrust for Poe,” Isaac said. Poe is “not sure what to make of her. He doesn’t necessarily agree with the way Holdo sees the role of the Resistance in this particular moment.”
Holdo also practices a different kind of military strategy than General Leia. “Sometimes you need somebody to show up and yeah, teach you a thing or two,” Dern says. What’s ironic about the pairing of Leia and Holdo is, Holdo learned everything she knows from Leia, so this could be an example of Leia letting go of the reigns a bit and letting her mentee rise up into greater authority.
A Familiar Friend
While Amilyn might be new to Star Wars cinema, she was actually introduced in Claudia Gray’s book Leia: Princess of Alderaan. The book showcases Princess Leia’s life before she joined the rebellion, some years before the events of Rogue One and A New Hope. In the book, Leia serves in the Galactic Senate where she meets another young government official named, you guessed it, Amilyn Holdo.
They first meet on a nature hike, when a group of young delegates go hiking. Leia remarks on how excited Amilyn is about the prospect of danger on the hike. Does that mean she’s a “leap before you look” kind of woman? This might explain why she gets into a fire fight in the film, despite being an Admiral.
So far that’s all we know about Amilyn. What are you hoping to see from Laura Dern’s character in the film?
Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in the UK on December 14 and in the US on December 15, 2018.
