Although J.J. Abrams isn't ready t reveal much about Lupita Nyong’o's character in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," he does offer a few tantalizing tidbits about the pirate Maz Kanata.

The pint-sized, goggle-wearing alien, who's shown at the center of one the film's posters, has been the subject of much speculation, as her voice features so prominently in the trailers. “I have lived long enough to see the same eyes in different people," Maz says, presumably to Daisy Ridley's Rey. "I see your eyes. I know your eyes.”

Abrams confirms to Entertainment Weekly that "her eyes are an important aspect of her character," and that, yes, she has lived a very long time, much of it in a castle the magazine says she "inhabits with a court of misfits and miscreants."

“Her history is that she was a pirate for a long time,” he said. “She’s lived over a thousand years. She’s had this watering hole for about a century, and it’s like another bar that you’d find in a corner of the 'Star Wars' universe.”

However, if you want to know more about Maz's backstory, you're not going to learn it in EW, or in "The Force Awakens." Abrams suggests you'll have to look for that "in other venues," such as books or games.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" opens Dec. 18 in North America.