Actor Donnie Yen, who plays the blind warrior Chirrut Imwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, recently sat down with ComicBook.com to share his thoughts on his belief that the Force connects to our human nature more than we might have previously thought.  It is a fascinating look into how Yen perceives his character Chirrut Îmwe in the film.

You might think that Yen would draw on his martial arts training to link up to his character’s connection with the Force, especially since much of the Force and the Jedi have taken inspiration from Eastern philosophy, but while shooting the film that wasn’t on his mind.

“That’s a good question. I never thought about relating it to martial arts,” Yen told Comicbook.com when asked about what he pulled in from his mastery into his character. “What I think about the Force is we all have the Force, we may just not realize it. It’s kind of like… I think it’s interesting to see, to me, that a Star Wars story is about reminding us about things we collect and forget. The Force is – we always have this kind of ability; so to answer your question, having martial arts ability or having the Force is more about being a human being [than mastering something].”

We only have a few more days before we can all watch the film, and hopefully have a deeper understanding of the Force as Chirrut does.

About Rogue One:

From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is directed by Gareth Edwards and stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, with Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker. Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur and Simon Emanuel are producing, with John Knoll and Jason McGatlin serving as executive producers. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens in U.S. theaters on December 16, 2016.