'Last Jedi' star played the best Pokémon Go prank on director Rian Johnson
If you love Pokemon and pranks, or if you ever dreamed of being part of a mischievous Star Wars crew, this anecdote from the set of The Last Jedi is going to increase your FOMO.
Filming on The Last Jedi coincided with the release of another worldwide sensation, Pokémon Go. And according to John Boyega, new cast member Kelly Marie Tran (who plays Resistance member Rose Tico) dragged the rest of the cast and crew -- especially director Rian Johnson -- down the Diglett hole.
"Kelly is responsible for turning the Star Wars set into a Pokémon Go set," Boyega told Mashable. "Kelly made [Last Jedi director] Rian Johnson walk off set thinking that she found a Pikachu right outside the door."
Any Pokémon Go fan can appreciate what a cruel trick this is, but Tran apparently went the extra mile to sell her prank.
"Between set-ups, Rian was like 'I’m gonna see if I can go find this Pikachu,'" Boyega recalled with a laugh. "When he went outside, it was a ... drawing on a brick wall that said 'Pikachu,' so we all just sat there waiting for him to discover it. He was there with his phone like 'no, no, the Pikachu’s right there!'"
Tran called the prank "one of my proudest moments" on a recent appearance on The Star Wars Show -- check out her story below around the 5:35 mark.
What Boyega failed to mention in our chat is that he actually helped enable Tran's trick:
"One day, I told Rian that there was a Pikachu outside of set," she admitted. "So we were inside, about to shoot, and he said, 'Are you serious?' And I said, 'Yeah, just got a Pikachu, it's right outside.' And John Boyega was also like, 'Oh yeah, I saw it. I saw it.'"
So if a Star Wars cast member ever approaches you about an awesome Pokémon they just caught, it's probably best to remember one Galactic adage that is applicable in such situations:
