Since the project's preparation phase, the crew had held at least one major promotional event every month. May featured "Star Wars Day," while in June, a large-scale press conference was organized in Dublin, attended by all the main cast members.
Although this press conference was far from the center of the global entertainment industry, more than five hundred media outlets still sent reporters to cover it—after all, it was Star Wars.
Reporters from different regions had different interview targets. Those from China directed nearly all of their questions toward Daniel Wu.
"Mr. Wu," a Chinese journalist called out, "Star Wars has been around for many years. When did you first come into contact with it?"
Daniel Wu was a smart man and knew perfectly well why he had been chosen as one of the leading actors in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He answered the Chinese reporters' questions in great detail.
"I actually got to know the Star Wars universe through Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. That film was released in 1999. A few years later, I suddenly became fascinated by a Darth Maul action figure, though at the time I had no idea where he came from—I just thought his design looked really cool. A few years later, I finally saw The Phantom Menace, and then went on to watch the other prequels—sorry, don't blame me for my ignorance…"
After adjusting his words slightly, Daniel Wu continued, "After that, I went back and watched the original Star Wars trilogy, completing the entire saga. But at the time, I actually thought the original trilogy was just a TV spinoff of the prequels. I had no idea those were the real original movies. I just love that kind of space drama—pure goodness triumphing over evil."
Likewise, the British media focused all their questions on their "English rose."
A reporter from The Times was the first to ask, "Daisy, could you talk about your audition for the role?"
"As a young actress just starting out, I usually perform quite well in auditions. But competing for Star Wars was different from any other movie. I was really nervous. I auditioned several times, and each time gave me a chance to show what I couldn't show before, to experience feelings I hadn't felt the last time."
Although she was a newcomer, Daisy Ridley appeared calm and confident. "I think I did terribly in a few of the audition rounds. After my very first audition, I cried. I was walking back, sobbing, because I thought I had completely ruined it. It was only after my last audition that I felt I had done really well. I went straight home afterward, ate an entire pack of cookies, and sat on my sofa saying, 'I think I did my best.'"
Meanwhile, the Latin American media mainly directed their questions to Oscar Isaac.
A reporter from Brazil asked, "Could you talk about your experience joining Star Wars and working with Director Rosenberg?"
"This is literally a childhood dream come true! It's unbelievable—and so much fun. Joining Star Wars is just incredibly exciting."
Just as his words suggested, Oscar Isaac appeared extremely enthusiastic. "Director Rosenberg is amazing. He's absolutely the most friendly and passionate director I've ever worked with. He's brilliant, quick-thinking, and always optimistic. It's precisely that energy that drives the entire project forward."
However, compared with the three new lead actors, most of the media attention was still focused on Harrison Ford. The production also placed greater emphasis on his publicity image, as his portrayal of Han Solo had long become a cultural icon.
Focusing on promoting Harrison Ford perfectly aligned with the crew's commercial interests.
Turning stars into symbols and fully exploiting their commercial value is one of Hollywood's most crucial means of generating profit and ensuring revenue. Therefore, the question of how to better sell the symbolic meaning of "stars" is closely intertwined with Hollywood's evolution.
In a broad sense, the term "celebrity" is unreliable, since nearly anyone who appears on screen can be labeled as one. Within Hollywood industry jargon, the proper term for a "star" is actually "talent." The use of the word "talent" doesn't necessarily mean that the star possesses natural ability; rather, much like the Chinese meaning of the word, it serves as a classification label based on commercial value.
In the collective labor of filmmaking, star talents are part of the creative workforce. They use their bodies and voices on screen to portray characters, serving a particularly symbolic function in the film production process.
All movie stars are film actors, but not all film actors are movie stars. The biggest difference between actors and stars—or, more precisely, the main factor determining the rank of a star—is the commercial circulation value of their "name."
A film can have hundreds of actors, but only a few "names" can serve as selling points—and of course, those names usually belong to the leading "stars." In defining Hollywood stardom, economic value is always the central factor. The star group represents the elite among commercially successful actors.
Hollywood's hierarchy among actors is reflected in many ways. For example, on movie posters, star names are placed prominently near the title, standing out clearly.
Highlighting certain actors in this way is the most obvious feature of symbolic representation—it signifies that a "star" is a "name" used to generate sales. The communicative value of that name turns the star into an identifiable symbol of value and a form of tradeable currency.
When forecasting profits, a star's box-office appeal can not only be measured and estimated but also traded within the film market.
Hollywood generally defines box-office appeal as follows: regardless of other factors in a project, it refers to the proportion of financing and box-office revenue that an actor's or director's personal name alone can attract.
The hierarchical system of Hollywood's star industry is entirely based on box-office appeal—that is, commercial ability—not acting skill.
It can be said that over the past thirty years, the hierarchy of Hollywood stardom has had virtually no direct connection to acting ability or artistic contribution.
Take Duke's former Duke Studio and the current Lucasfilm as examples—they usually classify Hollywood stars in this way:
Super A-list stars can guarantee presales and strong opening weekend box-office numbers.
A-list stars may not automatically cause a frenzy, but as long as the director and budget are right, and the film's genre aligns with their previous work, they represent a safe bet for producers.
High-quality second-tier stars are those claimed to have almost the same influence as first-tier stars, but their commercial value is unstable and can be affected by factors such as budget and co-stars.
Second-tier stars may occasionally attract the attention of distributors, but other elements of the film—such as the quality of the script and the size of the budget—are relatively more important.
Third-tier stars, by name alone, have almost no impact on the market. However, with the right collaborators—actors, directors, and budgets—they can occasionally boost box-office performance in certain regions.
Meanwhile, within the ranks of stardom, there also exists a special group of individuals.
Some actors do not belong to the category of first-tier stars, but through repeatedly appearing in a specific kind of commercially successful film, they become type stars. Generally speaking, type stars mainly thrive in "cult films" and "comedies."
In addition, there are some actors who appear in films that do not belong to the mainstream market, breaking the usual continuity between character and genre.
They challenge roles vastly different from those they've played before, and such actors are referred to as "method actors."
However, they are not considered the "mainstream" of Hollywood stardom. Just like Daniel Day-Lewis and others, they themselves do not possess much box-office appeal, and Hollywood's mainstream film industry is not particularly enthusiastic about these method actors.
As a symbolic image, the concept of stardom holds special meaning for the film industry. Even directors, producers, and investors at Duke's level never ignore the influence and appeal that major stars can bring.
The most notable feature of a film as a commodity is its "uniqueness." There may be similarities, but no two films are ever exactly the same.
However, this very characteristic poses an obstacle to both consumers and producers.
Most film transactions arise from consumers' willingness to pay for the unknown. The desire to "want to see" something depends precisely on the elements of a movie that are not fully understood.
Before watching a film, consumers cannot be sure what exactly they are paying for, and at the same time, producers cannot be completely certain what the audience will like.
Hollywood has a famous saying: "The single most important fact about the movie industry is that nobody knows anything." To deal with this "symmetrical ignorance," the only solution is to rely on the similarities or coherence between films.
Genre films and franchises are one form of response, while an even broader method is the use of stars.
The reason stars hold such an important position in the movie business is because they provide a means of maintaining balance between uncertainty and certainty, difference and consistency, uniqueness and familiarity.
Therefore, stars must possess unique advantages while existing as familiar entities. The participation of a particular star immediately reminds audiences of a series of familiar, pre-existing meanings from their previous appearances. This familiarity helps viewers better understand the unknown parts of a new release—for example, "a comedy starring Jim Carrey or Ben Stiller," or "a romantic film featuring Julia Roberts."
Hollywood producers often describe stars as "a monopoly of personality," referring to how a star's distinctive character provides the film industry with both product differentiation and quality assurance.
However, stars themselves are not direct commodities—you can walk into any cinema, but you can't buy a particular star.
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