Mads Mikkelsen doesn’t think Rogue One ever had a finished script during shooting
The production of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was famously challenging, with extensive rewrites and reshoots altering the film nearly up until its release. Mads Mikkelsen played Galen Erso in Rogue One, one of the lead scientists working on the Death Star. During a recent chat with Variety, he said he didn’t believe the film ever had a finished script.
Mads Mikkelsen on Rogue One’s Script, or Lack Thereof
“There was a lot of changes in the story, it went back and forth,” Mikkelsen said. “For a Star Wars film, it was surprisingly unfinished in the script. It kept changing. One would think that was already done. I don’t think they ever locked in a draft. I think they kept working on it and improvised and went back and reshot stuff. And then came up with a better idea.“
Mikkelsen said that although those types of changes were “kind of liveable for a character like mine,” who had his mission and knew what it was, “but it was obviously tricky for the two young heroes, not knowing what exactly what they were carrying into a room of baggage.” Despite all the uncertainties, Mikkelsen said Rogue One “turned out to be a really nice film.“
Rogue One Director on the Film’s Legacy
Rogue One was a big success upon release, but its stature has grown even further in the last decade thanks to Tony Gilroy’s fantastic Andor series. Some have even said that it’s the best Star Wars movie of the Disney era. Director Gareth Edwards has said he doesn’t view it that way, but he appreciates that the film has resonated with fans.
“What you have to keep in your pocket as you go through making other films is that it’s not about how people feel the day it gets released, it’s how people feel about it 10, 20 years from now,” he said. “When you make a movie, you’re living at least a year from now, you’re trying to imagine what it’s like, all these decisions you’re making, what they are going to be like a year from now when this movie is released, what’s the audience going to think?“
He continued, “And as the movie comes out, you go, ‘I’m going to pretend I’m living 10 years from now, and it doesn’t matter what people say in the moment.’ It’s the kid who comes up to you 20 years from now and goes, ‘Oh my god, I loved that movie!’ I think that’s the reward.“
What’s Next for Mads Mikkelsen?
Mikkelsen was recently seen starring in Dust Bunny, an action thriller written and directed by Bryan Fuller, creator of Hannibal. A recent report also stated that he’s set to join Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence in Martin Scorsese’s What Happens at Night.
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