To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before star Lana Condor has revealed she was very close to starring in Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi as Rose Tico before she even won her iconic role as Lara Jean Covey in the Netflix movie series.
Condor got so far into the process that she even had a screen test with John Boyega, who plays Finn in the movies, to see what their chemistry would be like.
Speaking with StyleCaster, the actress said, “This was before The Force Awakens came out, and they were already reading for the sequel. He was eating Sugarfish, and I had a meeting to just get to know him.
“I remember looking at him and being like, ‘He has no idea what’s about to happen to his life. He is going to be the lead in Star Wars. That is so cool.’ And then he blew up overnight.”
Finn and Rose spend much of The Last Jedi together so it would have been very important to know that the actors would have good chemistry on screen.
The role eventually went to Kelly Marie Tran, but Condor says she is quite positive about the whole thing, saying, “Had I done Star Wars, I wouldn’t have been able to do To All the Boys, so that’s an example of one door closes and another opens.”
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is one of Netflix’s biggest hits ever and we cannot imagine the movie without Lana Condor in it.
Sadly, however, Tran received so much hate online for her role as Rose Tico she was forced to quit social media and enter therapy.
Following this backlash, the character only received one minute and 16 seconds of screen time in The Rise of Skywalker. While many fans were upset about the fact she didn’t appear in the film for long enough, Tran said to MTV’s Josh Horowitz she was “really grateful” to be part of the franchise.
“Last Jedi was my first movie, you know? So I think I’m finally starting to realize that when you’re in something of that calibre, there’s so many people working to make something out of love. And no matter what you do, there’s always going to be people that aren’t happy with that.
“But I think the best lesson that I’ve learned is just to have fun and be present in the moment. So I’m really grateful that I got to be a part of it,” she explained on the Oscars red carpet.
A very classy response!