How Oscar Isaac's Latin heritage influenced his ‘Star Wars’ character

Oscar Isaac is winning hearts as fan-favorite Poe Dameron in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," already the most successful film in the franchise. In an interview with Fandango, the Guatemalan-born actor recalled the surprising connection between "Star Wars" and his native country. 

“I was born in Guatemala, and one of Guatemala’s biggest claims to fame is that Guatemala is featured in the end of 'A New Hope,' At the medal ceremony, that was filmed ... in Tikal, Guatemala," said Isaac. "So I said, 'How cool would it be if that’s where Poe was from?!' You know, he’s a Rebel fighter, that’s where the Rebel base is, why wouldn’t he be there? That’s an incredible idea."

Isaac pitched this connection to director J.J. Abrams and the "Star Wars" team who, to the actor's delight, made it official. In "Star Wars: Shattered Empire," the canon comic book bridging the gap between Episode VI and Episode VII, Poe Dameron is born on Yavin 4, the same moon where Luke receives his medal at the end of "Star Wars: A New Hope." 

Not only did he help create a compelling back story for the "best pilot in the galaxy," he even landed a cameo role for his uncle — the "obsessive" Star Wars fan who introduced Isaac and his brother, journalist Mike Hernandez, to the films. 

"He was the one that indoctrinated us in 'Star Wars.' So then when he came to set I introduced him to J.J. and J.J. said 'You're the uncle. Want to be in the movie?'" recalled Isaac. "They put him in the back in the scene between Adam and I and when the trailer first came out I got a little picture where he had kind of circled this blur in the back and he's like, 'That's me!'" 

Here's Oscar with his uncle Guillermo: 

Check out the interview below:

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Daisy Ridley was only in one other film before 'Star Wars' — now she's the star of one of the biggest movies ever