Gareth Edwardshas revealed that his past work onStar Warshelped in casting his latest movie,The Creator. With pre-production beginning on the film during the tailend of the pandemic, Edwards admitted it was difficult to meet with prospective stars, but as it turns out, the highly unique circumstances would lead to the casting of his leading man in the form ofJohn David Washington.
After a recent IMAX screening of three scenes from the film—which depicts the story of a near-future in whichartificial intelligence is now an antagonistic forceagainst which humanity must fight against—director/co-writer Edwards took part in a Q&A session with the audience, and he was asked how Washington ended up taking on the lead role, to which Edwards disclosed that the two had a potentially awkward first meeting when Washington entered the restaurant they’d arranged to meet at wearing aStar Warsprotective face mask, until the actor addressed the elephant in the galaxy far, far away.
“We were casting the film during the pandemic, so it was really hard to meet anybody,” said Edwards. “Fortunately, JD lived in L.A. and I heard through his agents, “Hey, he’d meet you any time you want. Just go for a meal.” So, I did. I went and met him during the pandemic, and he walked in with his mask on,but it was aStar Warsmask. It had theStar Warslogo on it.
A Solid Icebreaker
“I initially thought, “Oh, no, he’s doing this because ofRogue One.” And then, he sat down and admitted to being a massiveStar Warsfan. He was like, “I’ve been wearing this mask, every single day for like a year. It’s been for the whole pandemic. I thought about not wearing it to this meeting, but then it felt false. So, I thought it’d be a good icebreaker.” We hit it off, straight away.”
Washington leads the ensemble cast ofThe Creatorwhich also featuresAcademy Award winnerAllison Janney,Gemma Chan,MadeleineYuna Voyles,Ralph Ineson, Sturgill Simpson, and Ken Watanabe.TheCreatoris in theaters and IMAX on September 29th.
