Hannah John-Kamen

For other uses, see Hannah.

"I read a very random scene that was written just for the audition, and then I got a call from my agent who said, 'You've got a job in Star Wars.' And I said, 'Wow! Who am I playing?' And [my agent] was like, 'We're gonna find out.' So you don't quite know what's happening, and even on the day, I didn't get my sides until after breakfast. That's how secretive it has to be. So I remember being really nervous, actually. I couldn't tell anyone what I was doing because I didn't even know."
―Hannah John-Kamen[2]

Hannah John-Kamen (born September 6, 1989) is a British actor[1] who played a First Order officer in Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens.[3] She is best known for the starring role of Dutch in the space adventure series Killjoys and playing the anti-hero Ava Starr/Ghost in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Other roles of note include Dothraki widow Ornela in the sixth season of the fantasy drama series Game of Thrones (where she acts opposite fellow Star Wars actor Emilia Clarke), the journalist Sonja in the Black Mirror episode "Playtest," and F'Nale Zandor in the 2018 science fiction film Ready Player One. She also played the titular character in the Netflix miniseries The Stranger.[1]

Biography

John-Kamen auditioned only once for her Star Wars role, reading a random scene written specifically for the audition and which is not in the actual movie. She filmed her scenes at Pinewood Studios in 2014. Due to the secrecy of the production, the actor wasn't told what role she was going to play until the day she arrived at the set for her first day of filming, and didn't get her parts of the script until later that day. Having grown up with Star Wars (due to her older brother being a fan of the franchise), the actor described her time at the Star Wars set as a surreal experience, with her "being there on a ship [sic] and seeing everyone in costume having a sandwich in between takes." She described J.J. Abrams as a wonderful director who "was there in the playground with us." Her work in The Force Awakens lead to the actor being cast in Game of Thrones, due to Nina Gold being the casting director for both productions and being familiar with John-Kamen from Star Wars.[2]

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Premium-Era-real Hannah John-Kamen on Rotten Tomatoes (backup link archived on May 5, 2025)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Premium-Era-real 'Resident Evil' Star Hannah John-Kamen on Immersive Sets and 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' Memories by Davids, Brian on The Hollywood Reporter (November 30, 2021) (backup link archived on February 7, 2022)
  3. ↑ Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens

External links