One Scene In Star Wars: The Force Awakens Utterly 'Terrified' Adam Driver
Although the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy isn't particularly beloved these days, there was once a time when it seemed like Disney knew what it was doing. When "The Force Awakens" first came out the reaction was largely positive; while most agreed it was a little too similar to "A New Hope," it still felt fresh and confident in a way that implied more ambitious storylines to come. "The Last Jedi" would take those big swings, for better or worse, but "The Force Awakens" was more content to remain a fun, safe adventure story.
There was one big risk the movie took, however: The decision to kill off fan-favorite Han Solo. To have him die at the hands of his own son was a lot to deal with, and the backlash was definitely a concern for the creatives involved. "It was the scene that, I think, terrified me the most," Adam Driver said in the behind-the-scenes documentary for the film. "I wanted to avoid that scene as much as possible, and then I was also very excited to do it. But to go to that place, what it brought up in myself, was a lot ... You have all these things that are going on in your head, but that really goes away when you're staring across from that other person."
Luckily, Ford was cool with it
"I remember a specific time walking on set with Harrison and him saying, you know, 'Look what we get to do,'" Driver explained. "And for me that was like an amazing moment because he's someone who's accomplished so much. He's just as in awe at the process and feels so lucky to be involved in it, it's a very inspiring thing."
Sure enough, Ford has never expressed any regret about the way his character was handled in the sequel trilogy, perhaps in part because if it had been up to him he would've died in the original trilogy. "I enjoyed playing the character in the first. I enjoyed playing the character in the second. By the time we got to the third I thought there was possibly no useful purpose for this character except as a human sacrifice," Ford explained in the documentary.
"Return of the Jedi" chose to give Han a mostly straightforward happy ending, pairing him off with Leia and letting him (seemingly) live happily ever after. The result is a final entry in the trilogy where Han doesn't really get a ton to do. But nobody can claim Ford's role in "The Force Awakens" was useless. As Ford himself said, "The unique and very deeply emotional and troubling way in which Han Solo meets his fate, I thought, gives incredible opportunity and helps realize the full potential of the character that Adam Driver plays."
A sign of things to come
Sure enough, Kylo Ren's murder of Han serves as the villain's establishing moment, much like Darth Vader's killing of Obi-Wan a generation earlier. It's the scene that establishes exactly how far he's fallen from his roots, and gives us an idea of just how long it'll take for him to return to the light, if he even does at all.
Perhaps most importantly, it's the moment that establishes that these sequels are interested in a little more than just giving us quick and easy fan service based on the original trilogy characters. The scene paved the way for Luke's surprising character arc in "The Last Jedi," as well as that film's unexpectedly quick dispatching of Kylo's mentor Snoke.
Both these moments were deeply controversial among fans, but they were also fresh, untrodden ground for the series. Would Disney have dared take the series in such a bold direction with the second movie if the first hadn't dipped its toes in the water, killing off a legacy character halfway through its runtime? It's not clear. Either way, pretty much every creative involved in the first sequel agrees that Han's death was worth the risk. As J.J. Abrams put it: "It was a necessary component. This is not just 'the force awakens in a young woman.' This is the Dark Side of the Force awakening in the villain."