The battle between the Jedi and the Sith has been a constant in the Skywalker saga, but there’s a vital third class of heroes and villains that populate the galaxy: the smugglers, scrappers, bounty hunters, and scoundrels who make a living on the edges of a war. The life of a rogue is tough in the Star Wars universe, and the masked Zorri Bliss (Keri Russell)—revealed exclusively in Annie Leibovitz’s new portfolio from the set of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker—is no exception.
In The Rise of Skywalker, Russell is reunited with J.J. Abrams—the man who made her a household name when he first cast her as a sentimental college undergrad in the TV show Felicity 20 years ago. Abrams has already transformed Russell’s career once, when he broke apart her innocent image with a short but memorable fight sequence in 2006’s Mission Impossible III. “When J.J. calls so unexpectedly,” Russell said last summer, “cool things happen.”
Many years and six seasons of the Emmy-winning spy drama The Americans later and Russell is not only adept at action, she’s well practiced in the art of keeping secrets. That would be why, until now, the only thing she let slip about her Star Wars character was “I do have the coolest costume. I will say that.”
She’s not wrong. The brass detailing and deep aubergine of Zorri Bliss’s suit invoke the glamour of Laura Dern’s Admiral Holdo, while the familiar silhouette calls to mind the bounty hunter Boba Fett. Even more hardcore Star Wars fans will notice a similarity between Russell’s costume and the one worn by the short-lived female bounty hunter Zam Wesell in Attack of the Clones.
Her mask helps Bliss disguise both her identity and motives—a useful feature for anyone who might want to blend in at a shady cantina or the Thieves’ Quarter of Kijimi. Ever since the balance of power in the galaxy was thrown off by the invasion of the First Order and the destruction of the New Republic, it has become very profitable for scoundrels to avoid picking a side during the escalating war between Leia’s Resistance and Kylo Ren’s forces. If Benicio Del Toro’s The Last Jedi character taught us anything, it’s not to trust a rogue, but we’ll have to see whether Zorri Bliss chooses the dark side, the light, or, most likely, herself when The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters.
Source: https://www.vanityfair.com/
