Thandie Newton: “I am the first dark-skinned woman in a lead role in the Star Wars legacy, which is both great... and awful"
The actress playing Val in Solo: A Star Wars Story has lamented that it’s “taken this long” for a woman of colour to have a prominent part in the franchise
Thandie Newton, who is playing Val in Solo: A Star Wars Story, has said it is both “great” and “awful” that she is the first woman of colour to be cast in a lead role in the history of the franchise.
“I am the first dark-skinned woman in a lead role in the Star Wars legacy,” the Line of Duty and Westworld star told the Guardian, “which is both great, that it is finally a correction, and awful, that it’s taken this long."
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“Even Lupita Nyong’o’s character was CGI,” Newton pointed out.
Newton’s Star Wars character Val is part of the crew brought together by Beckett (Woody Harrelson) that also includes Han and Chewie (Alden Ehrenreich and Joonas Suotamo).
Solo: A Star Wars Story will be released in UK cinemas on 24th May.
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