— Yahoo Japan | Nov 17, 2017

Translated by @shii405 and shared with their permission. 

The whole world is waiting impatiently for Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s release in December 15. The Last Jedi is a sequel to The Force Awakens which was released in the end of 2015. No details have been revealed about the story but it seems there is no mistaking that Kylo Ren, a member of the First Order which aims to rule the galaxy by using power and instilling fear, is one of the characters that holds the key to the story. He is neither the hero of justice nor a mere villain. He has the most complex character, full of mystery than anyone else in the story.

“On the first recording day, I discussed Kylo Ren’s character with the director in great detail so I could properly establish the character. In the first half of The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren always wears his mask and the director said, ‘Don’t let that mask mislead you.’

“The core of this character is a conflicted young man. I think he is an usual type of a dark hero that has never existed in the Star Wars universe. Of course, Anakin was also conflicted when he fell to the dark side, but Kylo Ren acts violently [laughs], he is really ‘full’ inside to the extent that he has to let all his emotions out. That’s the point that I always keep in mind when I voice him.”

“So even if he wears the mask, he is still a conflicted young man. By wearing that mask, he is trying to look stronger than he really is. He might sound powerful since his voice is always distorted during the scenes when he wears the mask. But there is always that ‘unstable’  element of a conflicted young man in his voice. I have always kept that in mind.”

“There is always a ‘gap’ between his mind and his words. There is a big gap between his ideal image of himself and his true self. Things don’t always go the way he wants, stress builds up and he would sometimes explode. That’s why even when he was facing Rey, he should have been thinking ‘You are no match for me!’ but a part of him was really afraid. He was like that as well when he was facing Han Solo. There is just something inside him he cannot completely digest.”

About Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi

“Well, this is not a remake of the first movie, so I think it’s obvious that I won’t be doing the same thing as what I did for The Force Awakens. But I also cannot change the character dramatically.

“What I kept in mind when I did this new movie is that, in the end, it is to capture Kylo Ren’s core self once again. It would become his words itself as a result. In this movie, both Kylo Ren and the actor who portrayed him, Adam Driver, are making progress and changing too.”

Photo reference: https://goo.gl/1jAqQT

Adam Driver playing with little Cade Lappin on the set of ‘This is Where I Leave you’ (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧