If there's one thing fans are dying to know after seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens it's the gender of BB-8, the adorable new droid that's been front-and-center in all the film's marketing. While Rey has been the subject of most conversation regarding the film, as she represents a huge milestone in the franchise as the first true female hero in the core saga (Sure, Princess Leia was big, but Luke was definitely the hero in the original trilogy), one has to wonder — could BB-8 also be a lead female character?
"It could be a she," said Ben Schwartz, one of BB-8's "vocal consultants," although you may recognize him more as the obnoxiously hilarious Jean-Ralphio Saperstein from Parks and Rec.
"It’s an it," he acknowledged when asked about BB-8's preferred gender pronoun. "It is all races and all genders and all everything."
"It’s also a droid," he continued. "It is definitely not one thing. I don’t think it has a gender or anything. I am a he, but the beeps and boops do not determine what gender at all, and I think that’s amazing."
The Force Awakens has been praised for its diverse cast, and it looks like we can add BB-8 to the list. One of the great things about the character is that it's never specified in the film, so everyone can identify with it.
Schwartz was one of two people to help bring to life BB-8, the other being Bill Hader (Trainwreck, Inside Out).
[Slate]
