When audiences first witnessed porgs in footage from The Last Jedi earlier this year, they instantly became enamored with the adorable, bird-like creatures. A new TV spot for the film caused quite an uproar on social media, mainly because it featured Chewbacca smacking a porg off the controls of the Millennium Falcon. Despite the hilarious visual gag it created, the actor playing Chewbacca, Joonas Suotamo, does regret acting so violently towards the creature.
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“I definitely felt bad about pushing the porg aside so violently like I did,” Suotamo told USA Today. He also noted “like any relationship, it needs some work, and Chewie doesn’t warm up very fast to anything. He’ll need some encouragement.”
The responsibility isn’t completely on the Wookiee, as the actor points out the porgs need to be an active contributor in that relationship.
“I think the porgs need to initiate the friendliness,” he joked.
This porg violence is one of the first examples of the backlash towards the creatures, which first created excitement, but some fans are already sick of hearing about the porgs all over social media. John Boyega recently revealed his true feelings about the creatures.
“I just remember doing some stuff and seeing a lot of porgs around,” Boyega told Entertainment Weekly. “And they are interesting, but for me, I had a love/hate relationship with them. They’re very, very cute, but when you put them in a bunch, in holes, on the Millennium Falcon, that’s when they start to become really, really freaky.”
Some of the qualities that audiences find endearing are exactly what makes the actor uncomfortable.
“They’ve got real big eyes, all bunched together,” Boyega admitted. “There were, like, little tiny ones and little big ones that would just…yeah, it looks like a rash.”
Daisy Ridley, who spent a lot of time near the creatures while her character Rey trained on Ahch-To, also isn’t enamored with the creatures.
“Rey, honestly, is too wrapped up in her own journey to pay attention to porgs,” said Ridley. “Which is a sad thing.”
She added, “It’s wonderful to be working around practical things on set that have such personality.”
We’ll find out just how cute porgs are when The Last Jedi hits theaters on December 15.
[H/T USA Today]
