Star Wars: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Finn
9. A Lawrence Kasdan Outburst Led To His Stormtrooper Backstory
A long time ago, in a writers room not that far away, the likes of Toy Story 3 screenwriter Michael Arndt and Episodes V and VI co-writer Lawrence Kasdan were trying to come up with their next new leads for the upcoming Sequel Trilogy.
The team were able to agree very quickly that they wanted Rey to be a scavenger character when fans met her in Episode VII. But the lad who would ultimately become Finn wasn't quite as easy to figure out.
Initially, Arndt told EW (via Cinemablend) that the folks involved talked about the idea of the male lead being a pirate or quite possibly a merchant marine. And after spending so much time trying to land on what sort of character the soon-to-be Finn was going to be, Kasdan finally snapped.
It was in this moment that he blasted his colleagues for not thinking big enough, following that statement up by passionately suggesting "What if he's a stormtrooper that ran away?"
Just like that, the idea that would eventually grow into the First Order cadet with a guilty conscience was born.