Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Over 50 Interesting Facts About the Film
Dec 18, 2025
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakensturns 10 years old this year. The start of the Star Warssequel trilogy ushered in a new era of stories told in a galaxy far, far away, introducing audiences to beloved characters: Rey, Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron, Finn, BB-8 and many more.
In honor of the 10th anniversary of JJ Abrams' film, we've collected 50 interesting facts and behind-the-scenes details about the film that you may not have heard of. Check them all out below...
Did you know? In the original script, the relationship between Rey and Finn was hostile. Reshoots during a hiatus due to Harrison Ford's injury infused their relationship with more joy and fun.
Did you know? Early concepts for the film suggested that Rey and others would explore the wreckage of the second Death Star, including Palpatine's throne room. This concept was later used in The Rise of Skywalker.
Did you know? Star Wars: The Force Awakensis the highest-grossing film in theStar Warsfranchise ever. The film's profit was $500.2 million.
Did you know? Among the flags hanging in front of Maz Kanata's castle are a mythosaur skull from the Mandalore universe, Ziro the Hutt's Black Sun tattoo, Hondo Ohnaka's pirate symbol, several Podracer flags, the flag of the 501st Legion and much more.
Did you know? In the film, BB-8 is voiced by Ben Schwartz (from Sonic) and Bill Hader (from Barry). They are listed in the credits as "BB-8 voice consultants."
Did you know? Poe Dameron was originally planned to die at the beginning of the film.However, JJ Abrams liked the character and Oscar Isaac's performance so much that he decided to resurrect Poe later in the film.
Did you know?The idea to consider Adam Driver for the role of Kylo Ren belonged to Kathleen Kennedy.
Did you know? In the original script for the film, it was shown how Maz took possession of Luke's lightsaber. Overall, Maz had a larger role in the film, as evidenced by the shot in the first trailer where she hands Luke's lightsaber to Leia.
Did you know? Ava DuVernay suggested showing a close-up of Daisy Ridley in the climactic duel before she raises her lightsaber and stabs Kylo Ren.
Did you know? As shown in deleted scenes, Leia originally appeared in the film much earlier, in scenes dealing with the politics of the New Republic and the Resistance. This was changed so that Leia's first scene was when she met Han on Takodana.
Did you know?Starkiller Base takes its name from Luke Starkiller, which was Luke Skywalker's original name in early drafts of Star Wars.Starkiller is also the surname of the character Sam Witwer from the The Force Unleashed games.
Did you know?The arch in Rey's village on Jakku was based on Ralph McQuarrie's concept art for Jabba's palace on Tatooine.
Did you know? Gary Oldman was considered for the role of Lor San Tekka, but in the end it was given to Max von Sydow. Oldman previously voiced General Grievous in the film Revenge of the Sith.
Did you know? Kylo's mask was originally removed when the first scene with Supreme Leader Snoke was filmed.The mask was digitally added to Adam Driver's face in post-production to show Driver's face in a more dramatic moment later.
Did you know?David Fincher (Seven), Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass) and Brad Bird (The Incredibles) were considered to direct the film.
Did you know?Jakku was originally conceived as an ice planet.
Did you know? In an early draft of the film's script, Finn defected from the First Order after witnessing a group of Resistance fighters being forced out of an airlock aboard a Star Destroyer.
Did you know? Finn's soldier's name, FN-2187, is a reference to Leia's camera from the original Star Wars
Did you know? Kylo Ren's origins were first revealed in the film's opening scene on Jakku, but JJ Abrams felt that would be too much information about the character too early in the film.
Did you know? During filming, the working title of the film was Shadow of the Empire. This is the same name as a multimedia project from the 1990s.
Did you know? Oscar Isaac suggested that Poe Dameron was from Yavin, since his home country, Guatemala, was used for filming Yavin in the original Star Wars.
Did you know? At one stage of development, Kylo Ren was supposed to impersonate Darth Vader, going so far as to wear an exact replica of his grandfather's costume in order to provoke Luke.
Did you know?Captain Phasma's name is taken from the 1979 sci-fi horror film Phantasm. JJ Abrams is a big fan of the film, which features a chrome ball that resembles Phasma's armor.
Did you know?Simon Pegg plays Unkar Plutt.
Did you know? A deleted scene from the film shows Kylo Ren's visit to the Millennium Falcon.
Did you know? When filming began, Daisy Ridley's character's name was Kira. A few days into filming, JJ Abrams decided to change her name to Rey.A variant of Kira's name, "Q'ira", was eventually used for the name of Emilia Clarke's character in the film Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Did you know? In the first paragraph of the opening credits, Luke is referred to as “The Last Jedi.” Apparently this became the title of the film's sequel.
Did you know? The novelization of the film explains how Rey met the Millennium Falcon. As a child, she secretly sneaked onto the ship and learned to control it using a simulator that she installed on her computer.
Did you know? Rey's instant test boost was achieved using practical effects, without the use of computer graphics. Special effects specialist Chris Corbould and his team achieved this effect by using a vacuum pump to remove liquid and an air pump to inflate the dough.
Did you know? Jessica Henwick (from Game of Thrones and Iron Fist) plays X-Wing fighter pilot Jessica Pava in this film.
Did you know? Mark Hamill took part in the reading of the script, despite the fact that he did not say a single line. Hamill ended up reading the script directions to his castmates.
Did you know? James Bond himself, Daniel Craig, makes a cameo appearance as a stormtrooper who is manipulated by Rey using a Jedi mind trick. His nickname on set was FN-007.
Did you know? Luke played an important role in Michael Arndt's original script. After Arndt was fired, Lawrence Kasdan and JJ Abrams focused on the female lead and removed Luke from most of the film.
Did you know?Rian Johnson asked Abrams to change the ending of the film so that R2-D2, not BB-8, would arrive on Ahch-To, and so that Luke would not be floating boulders, as was originally intended.
Did you know? Harrison Ford broke his left leg when the Millennium Falcon's hydraulic door fell and hit him.Abrams suffered a back injury while trying to lift the door off Ford's leg.
Did you know? Frank Oz recorded new lines as Yoda for use in the episode with Rey's Force vision.
Did you know? Supreme Leader Snoke was originally intended to be a woman.
Did you know? One of the early concepts for the film featured Anakin Skywalker as a conflicted Force ghost, wavering between light and darkness.
Did you know? The original version of the film lasted 2 hours 40 minutes. It was reported that 20 minutes of the film were cut a month before its release.
Did you know? Steven Spielberg suggested the idea of trees falling during the fight between Rey and Kylo at the end of the film. Spielberg was a big fan of the film and saw it four times before its release.
Did you know? Oscar Isaac improvised the line “Who will speak first?” at the beginning of the film.
Did you know? Jennifer Lawrence, Elizabeth Olsen, Shailene Woodley, Billie Lourd and Saoirse Ronan were considered for the role of Rey before Daisy Ridley was cast in the role.
Did you know? Eddie Redmayne was considered for the role of Kylo Ren.
Did you know? Unlike the lightsabers in the prequel trilogy, the lightsabers in this film were created using props with real light bulbs.
Did you know? JJ Abrams says he regrets Leia and Chewbacca walking past each other at the end of the film instead of hugging after Han's death.
Did you know? John Williams decided to write the score for Star Wars: The Force Awakens because he didn't want anyone else to write the music for Rey, a character he quickly grew to love.
Did you know? A full-size model of the Millennium Falcon was built for the film.
Did you know? There are several (probably unintentional) hints at future events in the filmThe Rise of Skywalker. In the film's poster, Rey holds a yellow lightsaber, which she eventually wields at the end of episode nine.Additionally, some of her lightsaber techniques in her battle against Kylo Ren echo those of her grandfather Sheev Palpatine inRevenge of the Sith
Did you know?Hannah John-Kamen, who plays Ghost in Thunderbolts, played a First Order officer in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.