Fans quickly fell in love with Kelly Marie Tran‘s Rose Tico when she debuted in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, though X-Men: Apocalypse star Lana Condor recently confirmed that she nearly secured the role in the galaxy far, far away. The actress confirmed that she came so close to taking the role that she read with John Boyega before Star Wars: The Force Awakens landed in theaters and that, while it may have been disappointing to not have had the opportunity to join the franchise, had she taken that role, she never would have scored her part in the Netflix film To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, which went on to become a big hit with subscribers.
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“This was before The Force Awakens came out, and they were already reading for the sequel,” Condor shared with StyleCaster. “He was eating Sugarfish, and I had a meeting to just get to know him. I remember looking at him and being like, ‘He has no idea what’s about to happen to his life. He is going to be the lead in Star Wars. That is so cool.’ And then he blew up overnight.”
She added, “Had I done Star Wars, I wouldn’t have been able to do To All the Boys, so that’s an example of one door closes and another opens.”
Heading into Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, fans were looking forward to seeing how Rose had ascended within the Resistance, only for her character to earn minimal screen time. Tran recently addressed how she had come to terms with appreciating every opportunity, even if things don’t turn out the way she thought they would.
“Last Jedi was my first movie so I think I’m finally starting to realize that when you’re in something of that caliber, there’s so many people working to make something out of love and, no matter what you do, there’s always going to be people who aren’t happy with that. I think that the best lesson I’ve learned is just to have fun and be present in the moment,” Tran shared with MTV News. “So, I’m really grateful that I got to be a part of it.”
Additionally, the complicated nature of the complex franchise meant that not all characters would earn the same amount of screen time, revealing her appreciation for what director J.J. Abrams was able to accomplish with the film.
“I mean, I think that I’m really just amazed at how J.J. was able to sort of wrap up all of these incredible stories,” the actress admitted. “There were so many characters and at the end of the day I got to be part of something so much bigger than me so that’s special.”
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is in theaters now.
Would you have liked to see Condor in the role? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!
