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If there's one thing the Star Wars franchise taught Mads Mikkelsen, it's that acting and filming are not the only items on an actor's checklist. It's also being prepared for unforeseen changes, similar to how filming went down in Rogue One.
Here's what the acclaimed actor recalled about his past filming experience.
Mads Mikkelsen Shares the Most Difficult Part of Filming Rogue One
Apart from nearly freezing to death on one brutal day of reshoot, specifically the scene where his character, Galen Erso, warns that the Death Star he helped create needed to be destroyed, he recalled that the reshoots and rewriting of scenes led to the freezing point of filming, "We went back and forth, and it was raining (cold artificial rain). So I was lying there, freezing to death, trying to keep my eyes open."
"For a Star Wars film, it was surprisingly unfinished in the script. It kept changing. One would think that that was already done. I don't think they ever locked a draft," Mikkelsen told Variety upon recounting his experience working on the 2016 Star Wars prequel, "I think they kept working on it and improvised and went back and reshot stuff, and then came up with a better idea, which is kind of livable for a character like mine."
It was no problem for Mikkelsen in navigating around what they wanted from the Rogue One script, but his concern lay in how the heroes of the story would: "I mean, I had my mission. I knew what it was, but it was obviously tricky for the two young heroes, not knowing exactly what they were carrying into a room of baggage. But I think it turned out to be a really nice film."
How Did Rogue One Still Become One of the Best Star Wars Movies Despite Script Changes?
Directed by Gareth Edwards, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story centers on trying to find a way to destroy the Death Star, with a rebel named Cassian Andor (Diego Luna).
This prequel was released one year after Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and one year before the release of The Last Jedi. While many fans questioned the movie's debut, as a prequel to the very first franchise film, Rogue One ended up exceeding expectations as it earned an 84% Rotten Tomatoes score and an even higher 87% from audience ratings.
The film even broke $1 billion, leading Lucasfilm and Star Wars fans to highly anticipate what's next.
To Mikkelsen, despite the script changes Rogue One underwent, the gritty war film delivered high stakes and even abandoned the typical hero's journey tropes like the Jedi from the picture.
If anything, Rogue One's grounded war story cited some of the best actions in the entire franchise, with the standout scene reintroducing Vader as a terrifying villain rather than a tragic, forgotten figure.
Care to share your favorite Rogue One moments? Let us know in the comments.
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