Star Wars: Laura Dern Couldn’t Stop Saying “Pew” While Firing Her Blaster in The Last Jedi

It’s a legend as old as time – well, not quite, but it will make for some great Star Wars trivia in five years: Laura Dern couldn’t stop saying, “Pew pew pew,” during her action scenes in The Last Jedi. You might remember Admiral Holdo taking up arms against Poe Dameron’s mutineers on the Raddus, Leia’s Resistance flagship. Well, according to Rian Johnson in the director commentary for the home video release, Dern had a bit of trouble not making her own sound effects while firing her blaster. 

Here’s the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in question:

"You can see Laura Dern say 'pew' when she fires the gun, which she could never not do every time she shot it." — Rian Johnson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Commentary pic.twitter.com/Wkr803BQte

— ‏ً (@marriagestorys) March 13, 2018

I would’ve loved to be a fly on the wall while Johnson was trying to shoot this scene. I can only imagine it went something like this:

RJ: “Fam, you’re saying, ‘Pew,’ every time you fire your blaster. Please stop.”

LD: “Got it, fam. I’m done.”

RJ: “Action!”

LD: “Pew! Pew! Pew!”

RJ: “Fam…”

The fact that the director decided to keep a shot of Dern saying, “Pew,” in the final cut is a testament to the fun this team had while shooting this picture. Some fans have a real problem with the humor in The Last Jedi, but this is now one of those behind-the-scenes stories that will live on in Star Wars lore forever.

Holdo was one of the standout characters of Episode VIII. While she got an all-too-brief appearance in the film, she is one of the great examples of heroism in the movie. Besides going down with the ship in order to give her comrades time to escape the First Order – in one of the most visually stunning sequences in the entire film – she also had some time to teach Poe a thing or two about toxic masculinity. 

While Holdo’s story might unfortunately be over in the Sequel Trilogy, you can learn quite a bit more about her in the Prequel era novel Leia: Princess of Alderaan, including how she became friends with Leia and why she’s so goddamn stylish.