Felicity Jones: "I play Jyn Erso, who is a phenomenal character to play. She is a woman who knows her own mind. She is fiercely independent. She has great courage but at the same time is tough on the world when she needs to be. I think Daisy did such a fantastic job with 'The Force Awakens' and she really set the tone for some great female characters. It's an absolute privilege to be able to play a complex, nuanced character like Jyn Erso."
Forest Whitaker: "Saw Gerrera is a freedom fighter. A rebel who's been fighting for years against the Empire. And now he's on (the planet) Jeddah with his fighters to stop the destruction which he knows is gonna come to the universe. I think it's exciting George Lucas had the idea to have all these rebel forces and then bring the rebel forces together for a rebel alliance. He created me and I'm part of the rebel alliance but at one point my tactics are so extreme with my group that I'm pushed away by the other rebels. There is a scene for us which is quite intense, of how I deal with prisoners and things like that."
Ben Mendelsohn (plays Director Krennic): "Oh, I'm a nut fan. I'm a day one nut for 'Star Wars.' I love it. .. I love all of them. The ones that I saw when I was a little fella had an enormous impact on me. Every single one of them I've been there in the cinema and I hope I see every single one of them to come."
Donnie Yen (plays Chirrut Imwe): "I play a blind warrior who lives on the planet Jeddah. And Jeddah is a very important planet because that's where they found the elements to build the lightsaber. I'm a strong believer in the spirit in the Force. May the Force be with you. Let's just say that if you give him a lightsaber he's the closest thing to being a Jedi."
CNN: But not quite a Jedi?
Yen: "There's no Jedi in this film unfortunately. Hopefully in the next one."
CNN: Tell us a bit more about Darth Vader being reintroduced and what it means to the film.
Kennedy: "Well obviously, Darth Vader is very significant in 'New Hope,' so the story that we're telling and the stealing of the plans for the Death Star, I think many fans will probably put together the fact that Darth Vader plays a fairly significant role in that -- but he's in the movie only a small amount."
CNN: George Lucas on set; talk us through that experience.
Edwards: "George is really funny. He's not what you think. I was worried he'd have really strong opinions and tell us off and instead he was just very supportive. I thought that he was just going to hate everything and he was just really nice about it all. I had been so nervous going into it but as he left and I saw him disappear, I just realized that's probably going to be the highlight of my life -- that memory. I mean, who else gets to make 'Star Wars' and then go and show George Lucas. It was a real privilege and, in my opinion, he's a god and I got to meet the god of 'Star Wars' that day."