As we race towards the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, much of the talk continues to be about porgs. The love 'em or hate 'em creatures are the subjects of much debate, and culinary consideration. Even the cast and director Rian Johnson cannot avoid talking about them. But, with all the hype around porgs, what about Star Wars: The Force Awakens' cutest companion, BB-8? Well, the heroic astromech droid has not been forgotten. He has found a new friend and champion in one of The Last Jedi's new faces, Laura Dern. The actress behind Vice Admiral Holdo only has eyes for BB-8. Check out their fun interaction below:
Apparently all beings, organic or robotic, like having their tummies scratched. BB-8 remains as cute as ever in Laura Dern's Twitter post and his beep-boops are far more endearing and full of personality than the banshee wail of the porgs. The porgs are the cause of a great deal of hullabaloo but BB-8 has no reason to worry. While admittedly adorable, porgs are fun animal companions at best, like the various creatures that follow Disney's princesses around. Droids have a long proud history of being mission critical in Star Wars films. They have gotten more than a few heroes out of dire situations and have never been struck for talking too much. While BB-8 may have felt left out in the past with all the focus on porgs, his new best friend is a good one, and it's nice to have friends in high places. Laura Dern is a great addition to this franchise and the franchise seems to mean a lot to her. While Laura Dern might love playing with BB-8 and showing her love, I suspect that her onscreen alter ego might not be quite so warm and affectionate.
This interaction is another testament to the brilliant focus on practical effects in this new Star Wars trilogy. While CGI remains a massive part of the series, fun interactions, like this one between Laura Dern and BB-8, couldn't take place outside of the film itself with a computer-generated character. The tangibility of BB-8 and the other practical creatures not only holds up better long-term, but is a less difficult acting challenge for the actors who can actually interact with something real and in front of them.
You can see more of BB-8 and Laura Dern's Vice Admiral Holdo, when Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters in less than two weeks, on December 15th. You can pre-order your tickets now for opening weekend. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the latest in Star Wars news and evaluations on the relative merits of subjective cuteness and how cute is too cute.
