The Force Awakens, as you might have figured with the title, is about a resurgence of the power of the Force in the Star Wars galaxy. But according to the movie’s crew, petulant villain Kylo Ren has something very much in common with this adorable kitty: the way they sound.


In an extensive interview with Matthew Wood, supervising sound editor, and David Acord, part of the sound team on The Force Awakens, Nerdist discussed some of the real-life sounds that were used to create the soundscape for a galaxy far, far away. There’s a lot of cool little nuggets of information in there—like the fact that the sound of the big, meaty Rathtar creature that chases Han and Chewie during one sequence in the film samples the same sound Ben Burtt used for the rolling boulder that chases Indiana Jones during the opening setpiece of Raiders of the Lost Ark—but the most interesting, and goofiest revelation? The sound of Kylo Ren using the Force in the movie is actually David Acord’s cat:

The Kylo Ren Force rumble—the really chunky and animalistic rumble—is my cat’s purring. It’s heavily pitched and slowed version of my cat’s purr that becomes Kylo Force rumble.


Not quite really that intimidating now, is it? But very cute. Kylo Ren already has a lot to live up to in the grand pantheon of the Star Wars legacy, but I don’t think “sounding like a cat when you use your evil Force powers” earns him many points in the bad guy rankings.

[Nerdist]

Top image credit: Kylo Ren via Disney/Lucasfilm, Adorable Kitten via Christopher Furlong/Getty Images.