Star Wars ‘The New Class’ – Skatronixxx

If you were one of the many that was fooled by Poe Dameron’s untimely death at the opening to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Then you weren’t alone, as initially the star who brought to life the Ace-Fighter pilot, Oscar Isaacs. Had come to terms with his characters demise early on only to learn that he may see the sequels yet.

In an interview with GQ, The Force Awakens Director J.J. Abrams revealed that Isaacs was brought on board to portray Dameron in the action packed opening scene only to die after a hard fought battle. The director invited Isaacs to Paris to pitch the role describing the character as an “amazing” fighter pilot who battles the First Order and “opens the whole movie.”

After the pitch, the Academy nominated actor was enthusiastic to sign on the dotted line but was deflated after Abrams revealed the characters fate. Isaac exclaimed that “I’d done that before. Set up the plot for the main guy and then die spectacularly.”

Abrams would ultimately fight for the actors collaboration encouraging him that the character would live on in the extended universe through books, video games and more. “We talked about the story and who this character could be,” Abrams noted. “I loved the collaboration. People like Oscar are the people you listen to.”

After deliberating over the role, Isaac would later write to Abrams accepting the part, reasoning “I figured it would be a cameo: I’ll come in, do my thing, and maybe it’s actually better not to have to sign myself up for three movies.”  He was surprised to hear however that Abrams had gone back to the drawing board and surmised a situation that saw Poe survive, playfully informing the actor that “Never mind. I’ve figured it out. You’re in the whole movie now.”

Abrams disclosed that it was his talk with Isaac in Paris that convinced him to rework the characters storyline, discovering that the character was a worthy addition to the Star Wars universe: “Let’s say that it was in that conversation [in Paris] that we began to see a way that being in the movie would be worth his time and the audience’s.”