Appearing at the Television Critics' Association press tour this week, Star Wars: The Last Jedi's Captain Phasma, Gwendoline Christie, opened up about the differences the Force Awakens follow-up serves up from its predecessor, in addition to praising the work of helmer Rian Johnson. She touted the sequel as going "deeper" and "further" than previous Star Wars entries.

“I was just so delighted to be in The Last Jedi, and for that to be directed by Rian Johnson, who is another director I’ve long admired since I watched Brick, actually; I thought that was a really brilliant piece of work,” Christie said of the film's director (via Entertainment Weekly). “When I met him, these are huge things to me and things I never thought would happen in my career, so when Rian invited me to read the script, have my thoughts and then to come and discuss it with him — as he did all of the cast members — I was really thrilled to have an opportunity of a forum where I could put my ideas forward and have some back and forth about where we felt things were and where we felt they can go. What I can tell you about the next Star Wars film is I think Rian does an exceptional job of going deeper, of going further, and really exploring what these relationships are.”

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Debuting in theater on December 15, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a production of Lacasfilm directed by Rian Johnson and starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Andy Serkis, Benicio del Toro, Laura Dern and Kelly Marie Tran.