|
Cameron Monaghan is becoming one of the most recognizable faces in the Star Wars franchise as the lead in their Jedi games, starting with 2019’s Fallen Order from Electronic Arts and Respawn Entertainment. The original game follows Cal Kestus, a former Jedi Padawan, who’s hiding on the planet Bracca five years following the Great Jedi Purge from the Galactic Empire. At the game’s conclusion, Cal and Cere Junda (Debra Wilson) barely manages to escape the grasp of Darth Vader and make it back to the Stinger Mantis. While promoting his latest crime thriller in Lionsgate’s Paradise Highway, Monaghan spoke to Bleeding Cool to provide a preview of what’s to come in Cal’s next chapter in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
“It’s really exciting to be able to play around in the Star Wars universe again and to portray Cal. Not only to portray him but also to develop him and to find him different,” Monaghan said. “This story takes place five years after the first game, and we see a change in him between that time. The story challenges him in ways that really test and develop him into someone that grows and shifts in ways that I think are really interesting, exciting, and complex.”
The Shameless star does see vast potential with Cal in his future. “This is a character that obviously he’s part of the Star Wars canon now, and I would like to see him in plenty of different contexts,” Monaghan said. “There’s a lot of story to tell with him. He is a unique person in this universe, and we can explore something with him that I don’t think that has been explored with other characters before. So that’s an exciting thing, and I hope people enjoy what we did with them because it was a joy to be able to do.” Perhaps we can hope that also includes a presence in a future Star Wars film or Disney+ series.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor releases in 2023. Paradise Highway, which also stars Morgan Freeman, Juliette Binoche, and Frank Grillo comes to theaters, digital, and on-demand on July 29th.