by Chris Snelgrove
| Published
Since the first film, epic space battles have been a staple of Star Wars, but despite the franchise's strong history with female heroes like Leia, only a few of the pilots who jump into the cockpit of a starfighter in the original trilogy have been women. Most fans think we didn't have great female pilots until the Prequel Trilogy, but that's not true.
The original Star Wars trilogy had a female pilot in hiding Return of the Jedi. Her name is Sela Kut, but you won't hear her voice. It was dubbed by a man before the final release of the film.
This final film in the first Star Wars trilogy is filled with supporting characters during the space battle over Endor, making it difficult to recognize the pilot unless you're looking for her. But Cote briefly appears as one of the A-Wing pilots, complete with green flight suit and slightly different helmet. She's the one who says, “I get it!”
The character is played by British actress Poppy Hands. Her voice was later dubbed by an unknown American actor.
Decades later Return of the Jedi Star Wars was released, and it continued to be a commerce-fueled empire, which is how this pilot was finally recognized. In 2010, Hasbro Launch the game line Star Wars: Shadows of the Dark Sidewhich is how we got the numbers and names of three previously unnamed Rebel pilots from Return of the Jedi. As long-time fans know, characters in the series have only recently been given actual names thanks to the game's creators, a tradition that goes back to the beginning.
Among Star Wars fans who know about this pilot, there is debate as to why it was dubbed by a male actor in the first place. Some believe that this is just an example of ancient sexism, while others believe that the pronounced British accent of actress Poppy Hands was so distracting that Lucas nicknamed her with an American accent (although this still does not explain the need for an American language). Male and not female). He did the same with the famous X-Wing pilot Wedge Antilles, whose Scottish actor Dennis Lawson was named after American actor David Ankrum.
Once the creators of Star Wars had a name for this pilot, it was easier to make Sila Kott a bigger part of the franchise. She has now appeared several times in Star Wars canon in books such as From a certain point of view: The Empire strikes back and From a certain point of view: Return of the Jedi. Speaking of franchise canon, Kott is officially female despite the male dubbing, giving her the belated honor of being the first female on-screen pilot in Star Wars.
In many ways, it's impressive that it made it to the screen at all. Thanks to behind-the-scenes production clips, we know that two other women besides Poppy Hands auditioned to be pilots for Return of the Jedi, but she was the only one to make it into the final film. Considering the few women who played supporting roles in the original trilogy, this actor's brief on-screen appearance is even more impressive. Which means she deserves the praise that Han Solo once lavished Luke Skywalker To destroy the Death Star: “Nice shot, kid…that was one in a million!”
