'Star Wars' star teases 'big character plot twist' in 'The Rise of Skywalker'

Kevin Polowy
·Senior Correspondent, Yahoo Entertainment
Updated

Warning: Minor Rise of Skywalker spoilers ahead

Richard E. Grant was among several Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker cast members who screened the highly anticipated ninth and final installment in The Skywalker Saga Tuesday night, and subsequently raved about the film in a Twitter post. "What it achieves, weaves & resolves, is a total emotional meltdown & resurrection of the Spirit,” he wrote.

Earlier that day, though, the Oscar-nominated Can You Ever Forgive Me? and Withnail and I actor offered the juiciest of teases to Yahoo Entertainment when asked what's going to surprise Star Wars fans the most about the movie (watch above).

"The big character plot twist that I had no idea would be coming," Grant said. "It made total emotional sense and story sense and I thought that was really smart. And I think that's an incredible thing to take something that began with the first movie in 1977 [Star Wars: A New Hope] and nine movies later reach a conclusion/resolution."

Grant, who plays villainous First Order leader Allegiant General Pryde, recognizes the enormity of expectations the film is up against in doing exactly that.

"It runs the risk of the Game of Thrones syndrome, where there's no way you can please all the people all the time, because people are so emotionally invested in this story," said Grant, who also revealed that Pryde will be in some of the film's final scenes. "The movie that they're going to see may not be the movie they have in their heads to see. But for a four decade-long fan as I am, I thought it pulled off that feat incredibly."

Rise of Skywalker director J.J. Abrams, always ever so careful about dropping spoilers, acknowledged that the saga's climax does of course have some surprises in store.

"When you leave the movie, you will have experienced some shocks, some surprises, some unexpected twists and turns," he said. "No one goes into a Star Wars movie wanting to know every single thing in advance. But I will say that the intention was to tell a story that was going to make people gasp as much as laugh as cry. So hopefully it's the gamut."

As for that major "character plot twist," will it be Rey (Daisy Ridley) actually turning to the Dark Side as one of the trailers portended? Or the fantasy romantic pairing of Rey and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), aka Reylo, actually becoming a reality? Or having nothing to do with Rey whatsoever?

The speculation began long, long ago, and will only heat up in the next two weeks in the buildup to the worldwide release of Rise of Skywalker.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens Friday, Dec. 20. Tickets now on sale via Fandango. Watch the trailer:

Read more on Yahoo Entertainment:

Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyle's newsletter.