seeing this diversity, in a star wars movie, one of the biggest franchises in the world, and one of my favorite things in the world all through out growing up. Luna received hundreds of responses, many from Hispanics and Latinxs, thanking him for pushing representation forward in mainstream media.Īnother Tumblr user was so inspired by Perls' story that he shared his own story about how seeing Riz Ahmed in 'Rogue One' deeply moved him as an Indian man, writing: ' honestly brought tears to my eyes seeing it. I got emotional reading this! #RogueOneStarWars - diego luna luna) 1483498819.0 The post quickly went viral, eventually reaching Luna himself, who proudly shared it on Twitter. Not just for the young, impressionable generations, but for the generations who saw very little of themselves reflected in media when they were growing up. As we drove home he started telling me about other Mexican actors that he thinks should be in movies in America. And my dad was silent for a while and then he said, 'And he was a main character.' And I said, 'He was.' And my dad was so happy. He then asked me why Diego Luna hadn’t changed his accent and I told him that Diego has openly talked about keeping his accent and how proud he is of it. He then asked me if people liked the film, I told him that it had a huge following online and great reviews. I told him it was the second highest grossing film of 2016 despite it only being out for 18 days in 2016. When Diego Luna’s character came on screen and started speaking, my dad nudged me and said, 'he has a heavy accent.' I was like, 'Yup.' When the film was over and we were walking to the car, he turns to me and says, 'did you notice that he had an accent?' And I said, 'Yeah dad, just like yours.' Then my dad asked me if the film had made a lot of money. And although I wasn’t sure if it was going to resonate with him, I took him anyway. I wanted my Mexican father, with his thick Mexican accent, to experience what it was like to see a hero in a blockbuster film, speak the way he does. She took to Tumblr to share the unforgettable experience, writing (emphasis mine): 'I took my father to see Rogue One today.

Perls wasn't sure if her dad was going to like 'Rogue One,' but when the movie was over, she knew Luna's presence in it had a significant effect on him.

He even got to keep his strong, Mexican accent in the role of Cassian Andor, further representing his culture on screen.Īnd if you don't understand why the accent matters.

Star wars rogue one google drive