Rebel With A Cause

Felicity Jones on fighting the Empire and finding fame in hollywood

- John Hiscock and Alison Slade

With her English rose good looks, Felicity Jones might have seemed an unlikely choice to star as the scrappy, street delinquent turned Rebel Alliance fighter Jyn Erso in the Star Wars spin-off prequel Rogue One, which comes to Sky Premiere this week.

But the 33-year-old’s performance as the leader of a band of spies recruited to steal plans for the Galactic Empire’s Death Star have made her an international star and helped the movie take more than one billion dollars at the box office.

‘It was one of those once-in-a lifetime experiences and when

I was offered the role I knew I just had to do it,’ says Jones, who tells TV&Satellite Week that her sporty background made the role easier to play.

‘I was very sporty at school and I played hockey, tennis and netball. My childhood was very outdoorsy so, in playing Jyn, I was able to access that side of me, and I absolutely loved it.’