Keri Russell joins the Star Wars universe in the mysterious role of Zorii Bliss for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The character has a connection to Poe Dameron and is a scoundrel unaffiliated with either the Resistance or the First Order. But beyond that complex characterization, Russell agreed to take on the role for one specific part of the costume.
At a press conference in Los Angeles, Russell and director J.J. Abrams discussed Zorii's distinct look, and just how much the Emmy-nominated actress loved the character's mask.
Zorii so far has not been revealed out of her helmet, giving the character a mysterious aura. According to Russell, that was what drew her to the character from the very beginning. Russell said, "[J.J. Abrams] called me or emailed me and asked if I wanted to be in Star Wars, and I was like, 'yeah!' And then he started to tell me the idea behind the mask.
"Personally, I loved the mask. That's my dream fantasy sequence: that I can see everyone in this super-tough version of myself costumed and no one can see me. That's my dream. It's a real power play in a way, because no one can really see what you're thinking, but you can see them. It was amazing."
In fact, Russell may have become a little too attached to that piece of her costume. Abrams revealed, "Keri loved the mask so much, the first two days she worked as Zorii, the entire first two days I never saw her face. She could have, like most people, taken the mask off between takes or after a couple of hours, or after the whole day. But she walked onto set in-character with the mask on.
"She even wasn't in character and had the mask on. And she was like 'hey', and I was like 'do you want to take that mask off?' and she was like "nah'. She had it on the entire time, and the next day, the same thing. I got to work with Keri for a couple days and never saw her in person."
Laughing, Russell brought up how Abrams "would be talking to me and say 'can you take that off, it's freaking me out.'"
"It's weird," noted Abrams. "Because you're looking at her, and you just don't know [what she's thinking]."
However, the actor believes that the ability to get such a specific mask is "awesome".
Russell, who previously worked with Abrams on projects like Felicity, also made sure to mention her thoughts about working with the director. "The other thing was, I've known J.J. for so long and we have a short-hand and we speak the same language in a way. And I feel like J.J. got to finish a piece of history in a way with this film. And he did a really good job."
Directed and co-written by J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, Keri Russell, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams and Carrie Fisher, with Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant. The film arrives December 20.