'The Last Jedi's' Laura Dern on answering to 'Space Dern' and getting LGBTQ characters into the 'Star Wars' universe
Reverberating throughout the 40-year-old "Star Wars" franchise, one refrain has always held the galaxy together: "May the Force be with you."
Emotional, stirring, and in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" even elegiac, the line takes on new meaning in scenes the late Carrie Fisher shares with Laura Dern as Vice Adm. Holdo, one of the leaders of Gen. Leia Organa's Resistance and the enigmatic new character whose principles lead the saga into its next chapter.
Speaking with The Times a week into the release of "The Last Jedi," Dern was effusive with love for her character, the film, and its writer-director, Rian Johnson. And to answer one of the most urgent questions to come out of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi": Yes, Laura Dern will now henceforth - proudly - answer to the title "Space Dern."
In fact, the affectionate honorific was bestowed upon Dern out of sheer fan demand by Vulture writer Kyle Buchanan even before the first image of her lilac-haired, cosmic-coutured Holdo hit the internet. But it earned special resonance with the release of "The Last Jedi" when the true magnitude of Space Dern and all she stands for were revealed in Holdo's unforgettable acts, brought to life with
