Star Wars Actor Didn’t Know How Crucial She Was To The Last Jedi’s Plot

Star Wars: The Last Jedi‘s Veronica Ngo reveals she didn’t know how important her character, Paige Tico was going to be in the film. Directed by Rian Johnson, the eighth film in the Skywalker Saga followed J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It continued the story of the Resistance’s fight against Supreme Leader Snoke and the First Order.

The sister of Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), Paige was a gunner on an MG-100 StarFortress SF-17 during The Last Jedi‘s opening battle sequence. After witnessing first hand how evil the First Order can be on their homeworld, the Tico sisters fled and joined the Resistance. Dedicated to her job, she decided to destroy the First Order’s Mandator IV-class Siege Dreadnought Fulminatrix via her bomber’s payload. Unfortunately, the explosion reached her own ship, resulting in her death.

Ngo’s role in The Last Jedi is brief, but Paige’s heroic act allowed the Resistance’s fleet to escape the D’Qar system. While that didn’t fully shake off the First Order, it still gave the freedom fighters extra time to find a way to survive. In a recent conversation with Insider in light of her new project, Netflix’s The Old Guard and Da 5 Bloods, the actress opens up about her Star Wars role, saying she didn’t know how impactful her part was in the film.

“I remember being nervous and scared going into the project because they are so strict. It’s understandable, because it’s so big, but I couldn’t see anything, read the script, take any pictures. Thankfully I had just one line. I saw the explosion on the screen and I was like, ‘Holy s—, I did that!'” Ngo said. “When I shot it I had no idea how big the ship was or the ship I was bombing, I just acted the way [director] Rian [Johnson] told me. The way it turned out, it was a great feeling.”

The Tico sisters were among the new characters introduced in Johnson’s The Last Jedi. Aside from the overall implication of Paige’s actions, her bravery also propelled Rose’s arc in the film. Like her pilot sister, Rose is devoted to the cause, which makes her the perfect mission partner for Finn (John Boyega), who was still unsure about his place in the Resistance at that time. Unfortunately, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker didn’t move Rose’s story forward; instead, the film cast her aside with barely anything to do.

Paige may be dead, but with Lucasfilm developing content from various points in the Star Wars history, it’s possible that Star Wars: The Last Jedi won’t be the last time fans will hear from her. Perhaps a potential Disney+ show with her and Rose could work, chronicling their early years on their home planet until they joined the Resistance. There are also other avenues to further explore their stories such as novels and comic books.

Source: Insider

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