Filming Oola's Star Wars Scenes Was Even More Uncomfortable Than It Looked
Let's all celebrate an underappreciated character in "Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi." That character is Oola (Femi Taylor), the enslaved Twi'lek dancer working for crime boss Jabba the Hutt. While my own headcanon says she could have escaped after being thrown into the rancor pit since we didn't actually see her die (shut up, because I need to believe it), she didn't have an easy time while living and entertaining under duress at Jabba's palace.
As it turns out, the dancing wasn't easy for Taylor either. She's a wonderful performer who was a dancer in the musical "Cats" in London and in the 1998 TV movie of the play. She was even asked back to film new scenes for the "Return of the Jedi" special edition, including some time in the rancor pit. (It's best not to think about how she had to deal with the CGI song performed in the special edition.) Taylor spoke about what it was like doing that dance while chained to a platform, dealing with her lekku (the tentacles on a Twi'lek's head), and her costume in "Star Wars Insider" #108 in 2009.
'A couple of times I nearly got strangled while jumping'
If you've watched the scene, you know Oola's dance is incredibly acrobatic. She's leaping all over, spinning, and even using her chain as a prop. That chain/collar and lekku were issues for Taylor who said:
"Dancing around in the slave collar was very hard, because I was attached by a long leash to a full-sized Jabba. There were four people operating Jabba and they only had this little monitor to see where I was. They had to really be on the ball with what I was doing in terms of the choreography. A couple of times I nearly got strangled while jumping! The tentacles on my head were even more difficult than the leash and slave-collar. They were very heavy to wear as I was dancing. I managed, but it wasn't easy."
As someone who has been a dancer, I can imagine how rough it was to have your balance thrown off by those heavy lekku. Especially when jumping or spinning. Even as a little girl, watching the film, I had a soft spot for Oola. Taylor does as well. She said, "I always thought Oola was sympathetic; she had been abused by her master and all she wanted was to escape." She wasn't even told that much about her. She was given a few Twi'leki lines and that's it.
'I noticed what a cool, funky costume it was'
That wasn't the only difficulty for Taylor. She was also covered in green paint, which she said took three hours and four layers of makeup that had to dry between each application with a sponge. In fact, she couldn't even do more than "lie down and not move" between takes so it didn't come off. She also had that costume to deal with. While it looked great, there wasn't much of it. When you're a dancer, you don't worry about that because you're used to dancing in such things. However, it really did look cool. Taylor dealt with it by not thinking about it, she said. However, she appreciated it later. She explained:
"I was so into the part and what I was doing, I just didn't notice until I came back and did it for the second time, when we were doing new scenes for the Special Edition of 'Return of the Jedi.' That's when I noticed what a cool, funky costume it was!"
Justice for Oola, I say, even if she did end up escaping the rancor pit!
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