Inspiration can come from the strangest places. While you might think that Felicity Jones would have looked to other parts of the Star Wars universe to inspire her role as Jyn Erso, instead, she found much of the character in rock and roll. Specifically, she credits the lead singer of Florance + the Machine with informing the way that Jyn Erso moves.
So much of Jyn is movement. It became a very important part of finding her. She walks almost a bit like a caged animal. Her fight sequences become like dances.
While we know that Jyn Erso is the lead of the new Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the trailers haven't given us all that much to go on about who the character actually is. Only the most recent trailer has really given us a glimpse of what the character is really like, beyond what other people imply about her. However, one thing that it doesn't really show us is the characters movement. In a new profile in The Hollywood Reporter Felicity Jones talks about how movement is part of what defines the character. To help find the type of movement she wanted Jones apparently watched music videos for six months before filming began to find the sort of movement that she was looking for, which she eventually found in Florance + the Machine's frontwoman Florance Welch.
Movement is certainly key to the performance that the singer gives in the band's music videos. She always seems to be moving when on the screen. The description of moving like a caged animal could certainly be used here as well.
You actually have to go back to the original teaser trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in order to really get any decent examples of Jyn Erso moving. That trailer opens with the character walking across a rebel base with her hands shackled and also includes a brief fight sequence with her taking down a Stormtrooper in hand-to-hand combat. It's a very short bit of film but we can certainly see where the idea of fight sequences as dance comes from. Certainly, there will be a lot more of Jyn Erso in the film itself and we'll have to wait for it in order to really get an idea of what Felicity Jones is talking about here.
With the release of the final Rogue One trailer today, we've likely had our last look at Jyn Erso until the movie hits theaters in December. What do you think of the character's look so far? Let us know in the comments.
