Star Wars: Lupita Nyong'o brings Maz Kanata to life in bonus clip

Lupita Nyong’o is all eyes portraying the thousand-year-old space smuggler Maz Kanata in a new behind-the-scenes video from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Unveiled by the actress via social media on “#MazMonday,” the clip gives a glimpse of how she donned a performance-capture suit to translate her every facial expression and gesture onto a diminutive orange alien with an inquisitive gaze and a sage understanding of the Force.

“Lupita could actually perform as a normal human, which suddenly released her,” says visual effects supervisor Ben Morris in the clip. “We could actually composite that as she was performing on the motion-capture stage in real time.”

The video, which will appear on the Force Awakens home video release next month, also shows Nyong’o working with director J.J. Abrams and performance-capture veteran Andy Serkis. Watch it below.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be available on Digital HD on April 1 and Blu-ray and DVD on April 5.