Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s opening in theaters is guaranteed to be one of the most exciting events of the year, and also guaranteed to be overcast by the untimely death of Carrie Fisher. All of her work on the film was completed before she passed away, which may even make watching her onscreen even more difficult. We’ve heard that The Last Jedi greatly expands her role in the franchise, and in a way it gives the actress an appropriate send-off.

John Boyega, while appearing on THR’s Awards Chatter podcast to promote Detroit and his new Star Wars film, discussed at length Carrie Fisher’s influence on him as an actor and how much he and the rest of the Star Wars family still miss her. He also mentioned that her character is given a “really cool” sendoff, made even more emotional by the actress’s real-life death.

I think the sendoff is really cool. Even before she passed away, I’d see her in scenes and be like, ‘This is really cool for both Carrie and Mark, who are the last two original leads [alive in the franchise].’ I felt like they deserve more and more — they’ve been doing this for a while and have been the beating heart of something special, and I just feel like [The Last Jedi] pays homage to them in general. But unfortunately, now that she’s passed, it does have a deeper meaning. I think the fans are going to appreciate that.

We have no idea what Lucasfilm is planning to do with the character of Leia after this movie — although we do know they aren’t going to digitize her face in like Peter Cushing’s was in Rogue One. But we can look forward to seeing General Leia in all her glory once Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in theaters December 15.

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