'The Last Jedi' Director Responds To Backlash Over Shirtless Adam Driver Scene
The director of 'The Last Jedi' has something to say about the controversial shirtless scene in the movie.
If you've seen Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson's latest installment in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, you may have been caught off guard by Adam Driver's shirtless Kylo Ren in a scene with Daisy Ridley's Rey. (By the way, before you get any further we should warn you: There will be spoilers in this post; if you haven't seen the movie and don't want to know what happens, seriously read at your own risk. This has been a PSA.)
Me when shirtless Kylo Ren came outta nowhere in #StarWarsTheLasJedi #shook pic.twitter.com/WrEjgldLdy
— Abby Muir (@abbymuir13) December 18, 2017Johnson, the film's writer and director, told PEOPLE the scene was not gratuitous:
It’s all about those Force connection scenes. The keyword being intimacy. And the idea that this was a way to just, why not step that up? The idea that, what’s even more uncomfortable having a conversation face to face with a person you don’t want to, is if they’re half-naked during it, while you’re having to do it. And so it was just another way of kind of disrobing Kylo literally and figuratively a little bit more, and pushing that sense of these conversations becoming increasingly more intimate.Actual photo of me when Kylo Ren had his shirtless scene. #TheLastJedi pic.twitter.com/zpO9MustbA
— lolo styles (@lauren_hemmo96) December 15, 2017Kylo Ren really force facetiming with Rey shirtless acting like he wasn’t flexing and force sliding into her dms
— Star Wars Memes (@jedimemes) December 20, 2017Though some fans didn't care for the scene, others had a different reaction. One fan who has heard criticism of the shirtless moment was quick to remind people about the infamous "Slave Leia" scene that features Carrie Fisher tied up in a gold bikini.
them: that shirtless Kylo Ren scene was so unnecessary
me: slave Leia
— 💀christina🍻🍜 (@passioncyutea) December 16, 2017can someone hurry up and upload an HD still of kylo ren shirtless in the last jedi asking for a friend
— Ellen (@ellencub) December 15, 2017Me desperately trying to find hd pictures of Kylo Ren shirtless pic.twitter.com/5FmiAil4jM
— 🥀 (@puertoricanjedi) December 18, 2017And Johnson knew Driver was ready for it, so he felt it made even more sense to put the scene in (and based on the thirsty tweets, we know that there were a lot of people who agreed). The director explained, "Adam looks so damn good because he’d been training hardcore for the past six months for those fight scenes. I’m like, ‘Eh. He looks so good. We should put him up there.’"
dear diary
i stood around all day shirtless and covered in oil in case i got an unexpected call but unfortunately i didn’t
Minor Las Jedi spoiler:
Kylo Ren has a shirtless scene and somehow quite literally force choked me in the theater.
Waiting for shirtless Kylo ren gif like pic.twitter.com/jNSPH6O6zX
— Amzatron (@Amzatron) December 15, 2017h/t: Entertainment Weekly
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pbXSramam6Ses7p6wqikaKednHxzfJBwZmpqX2eBcKHHko%2BdZ5yWwLV5yZ6bomWUnr%2Bmr9OoqWaqlai9sLrDrGSsoJmnwa2x0qxkmpyRonqlvsivnKs%3D