Thandie Newton Paid Tribute to All the Black Characters in 'Star Wars' With Her Cannes Dress

The red carpet at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival (opens in new tab) has blessed us with naked dresses (opens in new tab), pantsuits (opens in new tab), and poufy gowns. But no outfit has had a backstory quite like Thandie Newton’s. The Westworld star, who also plays Val in Solo: A Star Wars Story, attended the movie’s premiere at Cannes in a custom Vivienne Westwood dress. Upon closer inspection, you can make out a special print on her gown: The design featured all of the black characters that have appeared in the Star Wars franchise.

Newton’s stylist, Erin Walsh, even shared on Instagram a sketch of the eco-friendly gown and some more information on how the process came about. As Walsh points out, Newton is the first black woman to appear in a Star Wars movie in a leading role.

"For tonight's #StarWars premiere, Thandie had the brilliant idea to make a dress covered in a print with photos of iconic black Star Wars characters!" Erin wrote. "She wanted to celebrate her role in the iconic history of the franchise!! She is the first black woman onscreen in a Star Wars movie with a leading role."

The photos that were printed onto the dress—which were taken by Christian Hogstedt—are actually pictures of action figures from Newton's personal collection. (That is pretty kickass, if you ask me.)

Some of the characters on the dress are John Boyega's Finn, Samuel L. Jackson's Mace Windu, Forest Whitaker's Saw Gerrera, and Billy Dee Williams' Lando.

Before heading into the theater, Newton also (appropriately) snapped some photos with Stormtroopers.