Stars of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on filming the latest instalment

As Rogue One looks to the past to usher in a bright new future for the Star wars franchise, Felicity Jones and her co-stars Mads Mikkelson and Donnie Yen tell us about the extraordinary experience.

From left, Mads Mikkelsen, Riz Ahmed, Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk and Donnie Yen at the world premiere of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in Hollywood last week. Mario Anzuoni / Reuters

You would have to be stranded on the ice planet Hoth not to know that Star Wars has struck back.

Last year, we had J J Abrams' Episode VII: The Force Awakens, which was partly filmed in Abu Dhabi, and became the second-biggest film of all time, grossing more than US$2 billion (Dh7.3bn).

Now comes Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – the first stand-alone spin-off based on the sci-fi saga created by George Lucas. Set just before the events of the original movie, 1977's Episode IV: A New Hope, this is a Star Wars movie without lightsabers or the Force.

What it does have is a stellar new cast, led by British actress Felicity Jones. She takes centre stage as Jyn Erso, a former ­criminal recruited by the Rebel Alliance to spearhead a small team sent on the crucial ­mission to steal the blueprints to the Death Star, the Empire's ­planet-sized superweapon (as seen in Episode IV).

After Rey (Daisy Ridley) in The Force Awakens, here is another Star Wars movie driven by a strong woman.

“[Producer] Kathy Kennedy is a brilliant champion of these well-rounded, interesting female roles,” says Jones.

At 33, she is too young to remember the release of the original ­trilogy – she was born in 1983, just after Episode VI: Return of the Jedi was released – but is all too aware of what it means to generations of fans.

"Star Wars, people have such affection for it," she says. "Whether you're 7 or 70 ... people have somewhere in their lives come across it and been touched by it. So there's a joy and people do want to meet you and say 'Hi', but that's part of [it]."

Now part of the franchise that invented modern-day movie merchandising, Jones has already seen her own action figure, which she admits was a strange experience, “especially when your nephew is chewing your head off”.

That paled next to the excitement of being on set, where “every single day” she found her inner fan-girl.

“It was extraordinary,” she says. “I got to work with monkeys with blasters, who shout at you, and strange creatures with many tentacles. My acting companions were of all shapes and sizes.”

Not all of her companions were of the extraterrestrial variety. With co-stars including Diego Luna from Mexico, Riz Ahmed from England and Donnie Yen from Hong Kong, this the most multinational Star Wars cast to date.

Yen, who plays blind swordsman Chirrut Îmwe, felt the Force – of fan hysteria – as soon as the first trailer dropped.

“It was really nuts,” he says. “The teaser came out and there was a lot of buzz, even though I was only there for two or three seconds.”

One of the more senior cast members is Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen – perhaps the only actor to go from a Bond movie (Casino Royale) to Marvel (Doctor Strange) and then Star Wars.

"I became a Star Wars fan a little later than other people," he says. "On set, I wasn't really geeking out – but once in a while it does strike you, when you go past a 40-­metre-long table and the only things on it are Stormtrooper helmets. Whoa – this is a Star Wars film. It's untouchable."

While the finer points of Rogue One's plot have been kept under wraps, the most recent trailer hinted that Mikkelsen plays a crucial role as Jyn's dad, Galen Erso.

“Once you mention my character, you mention the plot,” he says, pulling an imaginary zip across his mouth when asked if he has many action scenes.

One thing we do know is that Darth Vader makes a return.

But with so little information released, the film has been beset by rumours, especially when British director Gareth Edwards reportedly reshot some scenes during the summer. This is not uncommon while making blockbusters, but sparked concern online about potential problems with the script and production.

Among the cast, however, there is only support and affection for Edwards, who ­previously directed Monsters and Godzilla.

“[He was] very much on top of the whole process of making this big-scale film, but also on the floor-level with us,” says ­Mikkelsen.

“He even took the camera on his back and started shooting and forgetting where he was, and then he fell down the stairs. He was very sucked into the scenes.”

"Gareth is very quiet, very reserved, very soft-spoken, very English," adds Yen. "But maybe that's perfect for shooting a big film like Star Wars."

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is in cinemas now