Star Wars: The Force Awakens character based off J.J. Abrams' high school teacher

The new character pays tribute to a beloved part of his own Los Angeles childhood.

The character of Maz Kanata was based on J.J. Abrams' school teacher (Disney)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens' director J. J. Abrams has revealed that he took inspiration from his high school English teacher when crafting the character of Maz Kanata.

He revealed to his hometown newspaper, Palisadian-Post, that the sage of this new Star Wars instalment (and, as many believed, spiritual heir to Yoda's throne) was inspired by the late educator, "Yes, the character of Maz was originally based on the great Rose Gilbert. We really wanted the story to feel authentic, despite being a wild fantasy. I mentioned Rose in an early story meeting as a sort of timeless, wise figure that I'd actually known in my life."

Abrams attended Palisades Charter High School in the Los Angeles area, where Gilbert taught between the establishment's opening in 1961 and her retirement in 2013 at the age of 94, having become the oldest full-time teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District and one of the oldest in the USA. Unfortunately, she passed away at age 95 on 16 December 2013.

It's an inspiration which solidified after the revelation that production designer Rick Carter had also taken classes with Gilbert, though 15 years earlier than the now 49-year-old Abrams, "While we experimented with many looks and styles before settling on the character's final design, Rose was always the centre of the inspiration for Maz. Rick and I had hoped to contact Rose and show her what we were doing, but sadly she passed away while we were in prep on the film. Rick and I attended her service and sat together, once again amazed by her life force and infinite spirit."

Early, leaked reports had indeed named Kanata's character as Rose; suggesting the teacher's name had even formed a placemark for the character in the film's early development. There's even a minor resemblance in the ginormous glasses worn by Lupita Nyong'o's performance-captured alien.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is in theatres now.