TwitterWhere in the world galaxy is Luke Skywalker?!
Star Wars unveiled five character posters Wednesday featuring fan favorites Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), as well as new additions Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Luke, played by Mark Hamill, was noticeably absent when the film's poster was revealed in October, and he did not receive a solo character poster, either. When E! News' Will Marfuggi later asked director J.J. Abrams about it, he teased, "It's no accident that you asked that question. But I can't wait for you to find out the answer."
Before the film's Dec. 18 release in the U.S., Ridley and Boyega each nabbed a cover of The Hollywood Reporter's Nov. 13 issue, highlighting 2015 Next Gen, the annual list of Holywood's top actors and executives, age 35 and under. Boyega admits he has loved Star Wars since childhood, and he was actually the only one in his family who was obsessed the original trilogy. "My parents are not interested in Star Wars whatsoever. They're only interested in The Force Awakens. In terms of the rest, they're like, 'OK, cool, but you're not in it.' They're all about stakes," the South African star says. "I've always been a fan, especially of the extended universe, like the comic books, the games. I had watched all the movies before being cast. I was fully aware of what Star Wars was. I didn't have to get an update."
Asked to spill secrets about his role, Boyega says only this: "What has always interested me, and what has interested a lot of people, are the characters that are unlikely. The characters that don't necessarily fit or match the status quo. Finn isn't a guy you would expect to be involved in this story. The fact that he's a Stormtrooper. We don't [usually] go into [Stormtroopers'] pasts or lives much: how the dynamics work for them, how they were recruited — we don't ever really see much about the past there. It was interesting to me to have that kind of character."
Boyega also tells The Hollywood Reporter that "watching the trailers" has been the most surreal part of his experience thus far. "It doesn't get realer than that. We went to Comic-Con, met the fans, but watching the actual content is ridiculous," he says. "I've never seen myself in that kind of format before—in a movie that is probably the biggest movie of all time. It's a culture. It's like a religion for some people. It's like, it's so crazy to see yourself heavily involved in it."
Ridley, meanwhile, tells the magazine that it's been a challenge to prevent spoilers from leaking ever since she was cast in the star-making role of Rey. "Me and John had to do something the other day, and we were allowed to talk about things that we haven't been able to talk about, and I felt really funny about that," she explains. "I'm not going to get in huge trouble, but it's just that everyone has worked so hard on it. The minute you think about all the other thousands of people who are keeping this a secret, it didn't feel like such a burden anymore. Even if I were to describe in the best detail possible everything that happens in the film, I could never do it justice because it's a story told in film. So the secrecy doesn't feel difficult. It feels like the right thing. There were rumors here and there, and some things are true and some are totally not."
Fans are dying to know who Rey's parents are, but Ridley won't be the one to reveal their identities. "Questions will be answered, absolutely," she says, careful not to confirm or deny fans' theories. "The main question will be answered."