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Naomi Ackie would love to return to a galaxy far, far away – if Lucasfilm will have her. The actor played Jannah, a former stormtrooper turned freedom fighter, in 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
"Of course, if they’d have me, I’d jump on that horse any day," Ackie tells Total Film at the EE BAFTA Rising Star nominees announcement. "I think it’s an incredible universe and I know that they're always telling more stories and making more links to the Star Wars gone by. It was so much fun and it was at such an early part of my film career. It'd be so funny going back now as what feels like a completely different person and taking up the role again, but only if they'd have me."
We last saw Jannah as she helped the Resistance defeat the Final Order at the Battle of Exegol, leading a tribe of orbak-riding warriors. The Rise of Skywalker ending left her story open too, with the hint that she could be related to Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams). After admitting to him that she doesn’t know where she’s from, he tells her: "Well, let’s find out."
There are plenty of new Star Wars TV shows and movies on the LucasFilm slate at the moment, but it’s not clear if any will pick up with existing characters post-Skywalker Saga. Ackie is keeping busy too with Parasite director Bong Joon-ho’s new movie Mickey 17 up next, as well as celebrating her BAFTA EE Rising Star nomination.
Ackie was shortlisted for her performance as Whitney Houston in I Wanna Dance With Somebody. "I finished doing press for that Christmas, and getting this nomination in the brand new year is really lovely," she says of the honor. "It feels like a full stop at the end of a really lovely journey."
The EE Rising Star award is the only BAFTA voted for by the public and the winner will be announced at the ceremony on February 19. Ackie is nominated alongside Emily’s Emma Mackey, Living’s Aimee Lou Wood, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’s Daryl McCormack, and The Woman King’s Sheila Atim.
