Movie Beef: The Other 'Star Wars' Firing We Never Heard About
Star Wars is in the news again -- not because there's a fun new space adventure on the horizon, but because Gina Carano, who plays Cara Dune on The Mandalorian, was expelled from the entire Star Wars universe, along with Jar Jar Binks and Jefferson Starship. Why? Well, as you probably know by now, Carano's social media presence has regularly included anti-science conspiracy theories, transphobic vitriol, and, most recently, a post comparing herself and other conservatives to literal Holocaust victims. Since this is A) objectively terrible and B) likely a look Disney is trying to get away from, Carano was fired.
One Star Wars firing that wouldn't have been justified? Puppeteer Tim Rose, who was very nearly sacked during the making of Return of the Jedi. According to Rose, while filming the scene where Leia and Han are making out in Jabba's palace, all of the kooky aliens who laughed at this public display of affection were laughing out loud for real at first.
Harrison Ford expressed concern that the "puppet characters" were going to laugh over his line, which was a problem because he didn't "want to have to come back and do ADR" -- stopping short of adding: "the second this goddamn space movie is done I'm flying an antique plane straight to a private island made out of ganja and single malt scotch."
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During a later take, Jabba's abused pet Salacious Crumb, controlled by Rose, jokingly complained to the director: "Eh, this Harrison guy ... is he gonna talk over our laugh? 'Cause it's really putting me off." Rose didn't realize that his mic was on, and this exchange played through the speakers. While the crew laughed, "Harrison didn't." Presumably, because he was already pretty unhappy to have to dress-up like a space pirate and trade lines with a dope-smoking alien slug man, Ford "stormed off the set and refused to return until whoever made the joke had been fired." Luckily for Rose, who also played Admiral Ackbar, Ford didn't actually know what he looked like. So Rose was allowed to stay as long as he introduced himself as "the new guy" to Ford. So he was essentially fired and hired back as his own replacement. Which, thankfully, won't work for Carano ...
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Top Image: Lucasfilm
