The cast of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and director J.J. Abrams spoke to BuzzFeed News after their D23 Expo panel earlier this month and answered a single, very important question: Who is your favorite character from the Star Wars universe?
Some responses were surprising. Like Lupita Nyong'o's.
"I love R2D2. He's this robot who's able to express so much emotion with just these sounds and you get so much from that," she told BuzzFeed News before quickly adding, "I also really liked Lando Calrissian. He was hot."
And, in the case of Abrams, very surprising.
"I think Darth Vader, because he's such a profound character," the director told BuzzFeed News. "The design, the story, his intention; it was just so beautifully done. That's sort of my knee-jerk reaction but ... there are a lot of great characters. Luke Skywalker was our way in for all of us with the original trilogy and so, to me, that character was the one I related to the most. He was entering this crazy world and taking us with him."
Others, like John Boyega's, were hilarious.
"I love Han Solo and the reason I love Han Solo is because he is doing exactly what I would do if I — John Boyega — was involved in the galaxy," he told BuzzFeed News. "I'd just be trying to get money and get the hell out of these situations. I'm not trying to get involved with Jedis, The Force, or people that control things — it's way too scary. I like that guy for that. He's real."
While some, like Oscar Isaac's, had deep roots.
"I was always a big Boba Fett fan, but I think the one I was more intimately acquainted with, because I played with his figure all the time, is Lando Calrissian," Isaac told BuzzFeed News. "It was Lando from Return of the Jedi with the mask and the whole horn thing. Practically he was the only surviving figure I had, but it also appealed to what I actually like as an actor now, which is you never know where you stand with him. He starts off and you think he's a good guy, then suddenly he's a bad guy, but then he's good again. Those are the characters I've always been intrigued by."
But one thing was clear: Filming The Force Awakens forever changed how the cast and crew, like Daisy Ridley, view those who’ve brought Star Wars to life.
"The thing is, I came to it and I would have said Luke because of, you know, what he represents — but honestly, now, Yoda," Ridley told BuzzFeed News. "Because we've been working with puppets and I get on really well with the two, well really four, guys who puppet BB-8 — two are on set, one does his head, and one does his body. To see puppeteering like that... when I re-watch the movies, it is insane to me that someone gave this character such life with their hand! Is it his hand? It must be. But they gave life to this wizened old alien thing. I love Yoda. He's so fun and it's just amazing."