Star Wars: 20 Things You Didn't Know About The Last Jedi
8. Maz Kanata's Role Was Cut Down During Rewrites
After Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong'o) was given such a strong and memorable introduction in The Force Awakens, fans understandably expected to see more of her in The Last Jedi.
But alas, Maz shows up for just a minute-long cameo appearance in the film, as left fans both mystified and disappointed.
However, Maz originally had a larger role in the story, as she was initially supposed to appear at the Resistance base on Crait, with concept art from the book The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi confirming this.
J.J. Abrams even shot a scene for The Force Awakens which showed Maz returning to the Resistance base, yet because there wasn't anything for her to do but simply sit around, it was decided to remove her.
And so, this had a knock-on effect on The Last Jedi, resulting in Maz's role being reduced during rewrites. In the end Lupita Nyong'o reportedly only spent a single day shooting her cameo for the movie.