Rogue One Reshoots Didn’t Change The Story Much Says Mads Mikkelsen

Mads Mikkelsen, who played Galen Erso in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, says the film’s infamous reshoots weren’t as dramatic as some have reported. The 2016 movie was the first of Disney and Lucasfilm’s so-called standalone Star Wars movies, though the story did lead directly into Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. Directed by Gareth Edwards, Rogue One was subject to both rewrites and reshoots. These were undertaken by Tony Gilroy, who has said he felt Rogue One was in “terrible trouble” before he came on board to fix it.

Many have said Gilroy changed the film extensively, pointing to the amount of footage included in Rogue One’s first trailer that wasn’t seen in the final movie. But Edwards has long defended his role, explaining the Rogue One reshoots came about as a result of the documentary-style of filmmaking he employed during principal photography. Whatever the truth is, there’s no doubt a great deal of footage ended up on the cutting room floor between the first trailer and the final release.

Now, Mikkelsen insists the reshoots changed the story less than has been reported. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, he says despite some of the reshoots feeling “chaotic,” it wasn’t as “dramatic” as has been reported. You can read Mikkelsen’s full comments below:

Some of it was a little chaotic. There was no secret that there was some rewriting in the script while we were doing it. And when you do that … it is obviously very tricky for the actors to know “what am I carrying into this room now?” You know? “I opened the door. I’m not back to what happened before.” So there was some of that. Having said that, it always felt like a solid story. A young girl lost, [who] doesn’t know where she belongs in the world. Then an Oppenheimer story unfolds. She’s always heard he [Galen] was this, and then she realizes he was that. And it was quite beautifully written. At the end of the day the changes that was in the film was not as dramatic as people talk about. It was tweaks, but obviously if you do it while you’re working it can be confusing.

Mikkelsen has previously talked about the Rogue One reshoots, echoing what he says here. Ahead of the film’s release, he explained the reshoots added “little bits here and there” but didn’t change the overall structure of the story too much. Based on Mikkelsen’s new comments, it’s clear he still believes this to be the case. It also sounds like the actor still very much supports Rogue One, as evidenced by his kind words about the script. Despite any issues that arose during principal photography or the reshoots, it seems Mikkelsen still had a positive experience.

However, it’s worth noting that, while Mikkelsen’s character was involved in core parts of Rogue One, he wasn’t the movie’s central figure. That means the actor may not have been privy to everything that changed, particularly when it comes to things like Darth Vader’s role in Rogue One, as well as the ending, which was affected by the reshoots. Still, it’s interesting to note that, despite the reshoots feeling “chaotic,” Mikkelsen still believes the original story of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story wasn’t changed too dramatically, despite footage from principal photography getting thrown out.

Source: Happy Sad Confused

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Daniel Gillespie has been a writer and editor since 2009.

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