WithRogue One: A Star Wars Storyhitting theaters in just over a month, some of the stars have already started promoting the movie, such asDonnie Yen. The actor who playsChirrut Imwemade a couple of surprising revelations in a new interview, first saying that he originally turned down this role, while also stating that it was his idea to make Chirrut Imwe blind. Here’s what the actor had to say about why he didn’t want to take on Chirrut.
“Truthfully, I didn’t want to spend five months apart from my family, filming in London. I asked them (his children) ‘how do you feel about daddy doingStar Wars?’ and they flipped out.”
The international action star, who is an accomplished filmmaker and martial artist in his own right, also toldJetSet Magazinethat directorGareth Edwardslet him develop the character himself.Donnie Yenrevealed during the interview that, “it was my idea to make him blind.” The actor added that he is pleased with his work on thisStar Warsspin-off, and joked that he will give out Lego figures of his character as gifts.
Donnie Yen’sChirrut Imweis one of the most interesting characters featured inRogue One, since he fully believes in the Jedi way of life, although he isn’t a Jedi knight himself. He is a great warrior despite his blindness, and fully believes that there is a higher power watching over us all, even though the Jedi order is now extinct. Chirrut himself is protected byWen Jiang’s Baze Malbus, who is devoted to helping his friend, but he doesn’t have the same faith in the Jedi way of life as Chirrut does.
Both Chirrut Imwe andBaze Malbushave been described as the “galactic version of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.” They will both be lead byFelicity Jones' Jyn Erso, who, along withDiego Luna’s Captain Cassian Andor,Forest Whitaker’s Saw Gerrera andRiz Ahmed’s Bodhi Rook, will attempt to steal plans to the original Death Star. Hopefully we’ll get more details onRogue One: A Star Wars Storyas we get closer to the December 16 release date.
