‘They were miracle workers’ – Director Rian Johnson has a lot of love for The Last Jedi’s Irish crew

It can't have been easy to follow up The Force Awakens.

Rian Johnson has made quite a following for himself after just three movies, and we're guessing that the majority of folk out there have only seen one of them: Looper, as both Brick and The Brothers Bloom didn't do much at the box office. His left-of-centre approach to sci-fi actually kind of made him a perfect choice to write and direct The Last Jedi, as the movie does spin out the history of mythos of the series into new and different directions. These new directions clearly didn't make everybody happy, but that is the side-effect of change. And clearly Disney are pretty happy with his results, because they've given him a brand new Star Wars trilogy to play with once JJ Abrams is finished with Episode IX in 2019. We were lucky enough to sit down with Rian in the lead-up to the release of The Last Jedi, and he spoke freely about his nerves of the world at large getting to see it, as well as his love for shooting the movie in Ireland, how welcome the locals made him feel, and his instant infatuation with the puffin population in and around Skellig Michael. Check out our full conversation below. In case you missed it, here are our chats with The Last Jedi villains played by Andy Serkis and Domhnall Gleeson, as well as the hero of the hour, played by Daisy Ridley. And, while we know there is no way that you've missed this, here is the trailer for The Last Jedi, which is playing in Irish cinemas right now. Clip via Star Wars