Although he's featured on an array of merchandise, from action figures to apparel, Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron initially wasn't intended to survive "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

In GQ, the actor recalls a meeting with director JJ Abrams, co-writer Lawrence Kasdan and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy where he was pitched on the role of a "badass" X-wing pilot, only to learn the character was to be promptly killed off.

“I’d done that before,” Isaac says referring to "The Bourne Legacy." “Set up the plot for the main guy and then die spectacularly.”

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Sensing the actor was a bit underwhelmed by the prospect, Abrams met with him again at a Paris cafe, reading from the closely guarded script in hopes of winning him over. Still hesitant, Isaac returned home to New York City to stew it over. He ultimately decided, sure, why not.

"I figured it would be a cameo," Isaac said. "I’ll come in, do my thing, and maybe it’s actually better not to have to sign myself up for three movies." However, by that time, Abrams and Kasdan had expanded Poe's role, which will spill over into the second movie -- and, presumably, the third.