Star Wars: The Force Awakens Changed Finn and Rey’s First Meeting Drastically

The first meeting of Finn and Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a seminal moment for the film. Finn’s bumbling dialogue but innate sense of heroics was contrasted perfectly by Rey’s weathered stodginess, and her ability to take control under incredible pressure. The pair had instant chemistry, and Finn’s little white lie (see: massive, huge lie/secret) helped drive how the pair would relate to each other for the duration of the rest of the movie.

And that was all a major change from the first version of the script. In this clip of the director’s commentary on the Force Awakens 3D blu-ray edition, J.J. Abrams describes the original version of the scene.

“Originally, they were much more angry at each other, and truthfully it wasn’t working,” Abrams said. “Originally in this scene, Finn revealed that he was a stormtrooper. And in this scene, she had never heard of Luke Skywalker, which didn’t really make sense, because later, she’s heard of Han Solo, and she’s been wearing the Rebellion helmet, you just didn’t quite buy it. But the idea was that her life was so isolated, so sad, so without hope, that the most optimistic thing, that was Luke Skywalker himself, was nothing but a Myth. And the idea is that Finn brings this hope to her.

“Also this really fun concoction that Finn is lying to her, that his truth that he’s actually a stormtrooper is covered up by this lie that he’s with the Resistance. That allows for Daisy to sort of fall for this guy that’s this daring, brave, good man, but of course he’s lying. And she’s so lost in her own life that when she hears the name of Luke Skywalker here, she doesn’t even believe it’s real.”

That would’ve changed more than just this scene, of course; Han’s explanation about Luke and the Force would’ve had to be be much more convoluted, and the idea that Finn and Rey build trust going from the lie to a hard truth would have been erased. The playful banter we saw in the first meeting between them set the tone for the movie – there was some mistrust, some adventure, some pensiveness, some excitement, and ultimately, it leads to an incredible friendship and a hint at maybe something more.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D Blu-ray hits US stores November 15, 2016. The package includes the 3D Blu-ray, 2D Blu-ray (both theatrical cuts), Digital HD, plus new deleted scenes, director’s commentary on the film, and all the special features on the original Blu-ray release of the film. The next Star Wars movie is the standalone Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on December 16, 2016, followed a year later by the sequel to The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII.