Director J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has taken a lot of heat from fans since its December 20th release. Viewers have picked apart the entry for a number of different reasons, but the lack of screen time for Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico was one of the more surprising developments in the film. So why did Abrams decide to reduce Tran’s involvement, despite teasing that she was going to play a big role in the Star Wars franchise?
Tran gets bashed on social media
After the release of Star Wars; The Last Jedi, Tran received a lot of backlash on social media in regard to her character’s role in the movie.
The actress was harassed so much that she was forced to shut down all of her social media accounts. Some of her co-stars even spoke out in support of her, which goes to show how much it was affecting everyone.
Given her prominence in The Last Jedi, Tran’s character was clearly going to play an important part in the events in The Rise of Skywalker. Only that did not happen.
Somewhere in the development of the last Star Wars, Abrams decided to significantly reduce Tran’s part, which has not gone over well with fans. Abrams has not discussed why Tran did not appear more in the movie, but it may have had something to do with the previous backlash.
How much screen time did Tran get?
After enjoying a bunch of screen time in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Tran’s character barely appeared at all in The Rise of Skywalker. According to We Got This Covered, Rose only had a whopping 76 seconds of screen time in the film.
The character first appears at the very beginning of the movie when everyone is getting ready to leave the planet, Pasanna. Finn (John Boyega) is shown telling Rose that she is supposed to stay behind.
Rose is pretty much absent from the rest of the last movie in the Star Wars saga. She later pops up during a battle between the Resistance and the First Order, but her scene is very small.
The lack of screen time has been heavily criticized, and some fans view it as validation for all the hate the actress received for The Last Jedi. While we would have loved to see Rose in more scenes, she may have had a more prominent role in the original plan.
Was Tran supposed to get a bigger role?
A previous cut of Star Wars reportedly shows Rose in a much larger capacity than what fans watched in theaters.
In a recent interview, Tran revealed that she was looking forward to seeing her character and Daisy Ridley’s Ray in an epic scene together, which was mysteriously absent from the final cut of Star Wars.
“I think it’s really cool at all that they are even in scenes together because in Jedi we weren’t in any scenes together,” Tran shared. “It was really cool to have feminine energy on set. I wish I could tell you more but I’m really excited for people to see [Rose and Rey] interact. They both have the same objective which is to fight for the things you believe in and the people you love.
The interview came right after Tran watched an early screening of the movie, which apparently contained the scene in question. But in the theatrical release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Abrams cut the scene between Tran and Ridley altogether.
We have no idea what the scene entailed, but it is a shame that it was removed. Hopefully, it is included when the movie is released on DVD.
Star Wars fans speak out
So far, The Rise of Skywalker has been met with mixed reviews from Star Wars fans across the globe. The same holds true for the lack of screen time for Tran’s character.
Some fans were really looking forward to seeing what Abrams had in store for Rose, while others were happy with the decision to cut her from the action.
Taking to Twitter, fans expressed their varying views on the subject. The discussion has led to the creation of the hashtag, #RoseTicoDeservedBetter, though not everyone is on board with the movement.
One fan even shared a photo of a bunch of Rose action figures on a clearance rack at a store as a way to prove that the character is not that popular with fans.
Whatever the case, it will be interesting to hear what Abrams has to say about why he choose to cut Tran’s scenes. In the meantime, fans can watch Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in theaters.