JJ Abrams reveals how he found the location for ‘The Force Awakens’ climax

While Star Wars: The Force Awakens continues to demonstrate its box office might, details about how some parts of the movie came together are being revealed. Spoilers ahead.

The most recent is a behind-the-scenes reel that explains how director JJ Abrams discovered the location for that key scene in The Force Awakens.

Which key scene? The very final scene where Rey tracks down the missing Luke Skywalker to present him with his lightsabre. Luke, of course, has been in hiding for years, apparently on a beautiful green island.

In a video for Discover Ireland, it is revealed that said beautiful island is Skellig Michael, home to a Christian monastery from around the 6th and 8th century which is now a Unesco World Heritage Site.

It’s more than fitting that Luke chose to hermit in a place that is an actual monastery.

In the video, Abrams explains that the original Star Wars set the standard for the importance of authentic locations.

“When I saw Star Wars for the first time it was all practical and real. You knew it when you saw the movie,” says Abrams. And because of this, actual locations were important for The Force Awakens.

It was fortunate they stumbled upon Skellig Michael, and the cast and crew knew it was a special place.

“I can’t believe they let us shoot there,” said Abrams. “It was so beautiful.”

Of course, since it is a World Heritage Site there are some complications that come with filming on the island and it seems like Star Wars won’t be returning to Skellig Michael for future instalments.