His aha moment came when his girlfriend got sick on a trip to visit the original “Star Wars” locations in Tunisia.
I couldn’t make that break into directing. I was turning 30 and I hadn’t done it yet. My girlfriend at the time [she was sitting in the front row — the two are still friends] suggested throwing a party, but I had no friends so I thought that might be really depressing. But I’d always wanted to go to Tunisia – by the way, I’ve never told anyone this story.
They were very clever how they shot “Star Wars” in Tunisia and all the locations are all over the country. My girlfriend must’ve eaten something that made her very ill. We were meant to go across the country about 300 miles to see where Luke Skywalker’s house was, but if we didn’t stop now and see Obi-Wan Kenobi’s house, we were never going to see it ever. She really needed to use the loo but I begged her and she told me to really hurry. So we drive down the road and she tells me to hurry again. I put on my headphones and find some John Williams track [he starts to hum] and I start walking around the house. You have to remember, this is where he told Luke Skywalker what his destiny was, his fate of the rest of his life.
I was having this epiphany and it was the most spiritual thing I’ve ever experienced. I was taking it all in and walking around and right by the front door of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s house and right in front of me, I see my girlfriend in a ditch and she’s squatting with her pants down around her ankles. She said, “Don’t just stand there, get the wet wipes!” It took me down a notch. But seriously, I did all that geeky stuff and it really inspired me how that thing as a kid that I grew up loving – that impossibility of being a part of the rebel alliance – was a tangible thing that really existed. I went back home really inspired. This fear of failure that chases you is met head on with the bigger fear of never having tried.
The name of the planet in “Rogue One” came from a misspelling of Gareth’s name.
Gary Whitta – a writer on the film – was naming things in the story, but eventually he was sick of doing it. And I was waiting for him to say this. So he told me to name the planet at the end of the movie, the whole third act. I was like “Right, this is a big deal. I’m going to get a coffee and I’ll come back with a name.” So I went to a very well-known coffee shop and was thinking and thinking what should it be. When the barista asked my name, I must’ve said “It’s Gareth” and they heard “Scareth,” because it was written on my coffee cup. So I went back and slid the coffee cup over and said, “It’s Scareth.” It’s been so weird to see it on t-shirts and everything, but I couldn’t tell anyone that it was just a misspelling of my name of a coffee cup.
