He’d previously gone as far as to say that he isn’t playing a villain. Now Mads Mikkelsen has evaded the spoiler police once again and revealed a little bit more about his role in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. If you consider such things to be spoilers, read no further, young Padawan.
So Felicity Jones is playing a rebellious soldier called Jyn Erso, and it turns out that Mikkelsen’s character has what you might call a blood tie to Jones’. “I read the script and it was very beautiful,” Mikkelsen told Sky News, “and Felicity is playing this lovely, strong woman and I play her father.” We still don’t know his character’s name, but we’re going to hazard that “Erso” is in there somewhere. Mr Alan Erso, perhaps. Head of the PTA at Yavin High.
Extrapolating properly, we might surmise that Erso Sr. and his daughter are somewhat estranged, since we know from the trailer that Jyn brought herself up on her own from the age of 15. Or, on the other hand, that “beautiful” might suggest early scenes or flashbacks presenting happier times before Jyn was alone. Is it possible that something happens to him at the hands of the Imperials, sending Jyn on her journey towards the Rebellion? “That was too much,” apologises Mikkelsen. But he really hasn’t told us much at all…
Gareth Edwards finished cranking his cameras on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story at the end of last year, with the post-production process now well underway. The story of how the rebel pilots stole the original Death Star plans arrives in UK cinemas on December 16.
For eveything we know about Rogue One, read our complete guide.