‘Star Wars Outlaws’ Video Game Star Humberly González on Being the First Latina Lead in Franchise History and Hopes for a TV Adaptation
Ubisoft and Lucasfilm’s open-world video game “Star Wars Outlaws” launched Friday, giving fans of the galaxy far, far away a chance to play as a new character, Kay Vess (voiced by “Tarot” and “Star Trek: Section 31” star Humberly González) in a story set in between the events of the original film trilogy’s “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.”
This new lead isn’t a Jedi or Sith, a rebel or an Imperial sympathizer — she’s a scoundrel trying to survive the crime-ridden “Star Wars” universe with little to no knowledge of the crime syndicates that rule and no one but a little sidekick companion named Nix to help her out.
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“It is such a fun timeline, and I know this from the creative team — Nikki Foy, the lead script writer, and Navid Khavari, who is our narrative director, when this opportunity came to them and they found out the timeline that they were going to be playing in was in the original trilogy between ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ and ‘Return of the Jedi,’ I think everybody was in shock,” González told Variety. “And they always say, ‘We got out of there before they changed their mind,’ because this is a dream timeline. It is a time where the crime syndicates are thriving. The underbelly of ‘Star Wars’ is rampant. So insert this new scoundrel story where she’s a young girl that isn’t a Jedi. She’s not a Sith. She doesn’t want to belong to anybody, not the rebels, not the Empire. She simply has a dream of getting rich and being free out there in the galaxy. She doesn’t know what that means, but we get to explore with her through her rookie ways of becoming this incredible scoundrel, but not having the experience like the ones we’ve seen portrayed in ‘Star Wars’ before, like Lando Calrissian and Han Solo. She is different because she doesn’t have that experience. So getting to explore the underworld with someone who doesn’t know the dangers of it is very exciting.”
González, who not only lent her voice to Kay Vess, but also did the full-body motion capture for the video game character, says she influenced the way the character was ultimately portrayed through her own ideas about who Kay should be.
“I know that when she was first crafted, they were making her a bit more cynical, a bit more snappy and sassy, but me coming in meant I wanted to bring more vulnerability to her — the cracks in the shield, the flaws that she had to have composure through, and that, to me, that makes her so complex, so layered,” González said. “Because if she’s a rookie, how does that show up in the world, and what is she learning? And so we got to experience this timeline in ‘Star Wars’ that everybody knows so well, but through fresh eyes, a new point of view. What happens when Kay Vess is meeting face to face with Jabba the Hutt, who we know runs one of the baddest crime syndicates out there? She has no idea who he is. It’s a very fun experience to input this rookie scoundrel in a world that we so know and it’s so dangerous.”
Kay is also unique in the “Star Wars” universe in that the character is the first Latina lead in the history of the franchise. This fact is a huge point of pride for González, who was born in Venezuela, who says she has met Latinx fans at preview events who have tears in their eyes over seeing themselves portrayed in “Outlaws.”
“I met this young girl who came dressed as Kay Vess. She built everything herself. She created the classic bomber leather blue jacket that Kay Vess wears, and track pants, the boots, she had her hair done, and the makeup. She even had this backpack, and it was Nix,” González said. “I was in awe, because it was a moment in real time of how important representation is — and especially having female protagonists in the gaming industry. There can be so much toxicity, a lot of misogyny, a lot of just trolls on the internet, that when women enter this space, there can be a lot of sexism, even though there is so much creativity and expertise when it comes to women in the field. And this young girl came to me and just said, ‘I have been waiting for a project like this for so long, for me to play as a strong female lead and explore an open world.’ And she just wanted to thank me. We were both in tears because I said it means just as much for me because I didn’t grow up seeing myself represented on screen, and being a Latina and being the lead of one of the biggest franchises in our time, means so much. That was a moment that made me realize the magnitude of what we’re doing and what it means for me to enter this franchise.”
González spoke with Variety about starring in “Star Wars Outlaws” amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA video game actors strike, which began July 26. While the Ubisoft-developed “Star Wars Outlaws” is exempt from the work stoppage and not among the struck titles, González addressed the central issue behind the strike for herself and other actors, which is increased protections surrounding artificial intelligence (AI), and how she believes her work as Kay Vess proves the importance of the issue.
“I love this job so much, I would love to keep doing it for many years to come. I think it’s important to fight for our rights, to respect the actors’ craft, and I hope that with the actors on the picket line and bringing these issues to the front, that they realize that no AI could ever take over what a real human can do,” González said. “I feel so blessed to be able to play Kay Vess, because what infuses her is my own experience of growing up in Venezuela and being an immigrant. Leaving everything behind, starting over and me following my own dream, which is such a big parallel to Kay Vess, having grown up the way she did, coming from nothing, and having this idea of what freedom is and what it means for her. So when it comes to that, I will always be on the side of, let’s protect our rights.”
González who recently wrapped the Paramount+ film “Star Trek: Section 31” starring alongside Michelle Yeoh (yes, she’s aware of the unique nature of her starring in competing iconic space franchises) is currently in production on the third season of Netflix’s “Ginny & Georgia” would love to take her acting as Kay Vess one step further with a TV adaptation of “Star Wars Outlaws.”
“I think it would be incredible to see Kay Vess in live action, because one thing that we don’t see in animation is those micro expressions of a real human being on screen,” González said. “And it would be incredible for me to experience what it would be like to be literally in her costume, in her appearance, her likeness, in the landscape, to see her interact with real characters, the creatures. It would be a dream come true. I certainly would not say no to the opportunity. And I think there’s so many opportunities to see Kay Vess and other aspects of established roles in ‘Star Wars,’ because we’re in the original trilogy, and there’s so many opportunities for her to exist or show up and in different places. So it would be amazing, and I think fans would love it.”
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