Beru Whitesun Lars

Beru Whitesun Lars was a human female from Tatooine. She was married to Owen Lars and raised Luke Skywalker after the fall of the Galactic Republic.

Before the Empire
Shortly before the outbreak of the Clone Wars, Owen Lars' stepmother, Shmi Skywalker Lars, was kidnapped by Tusken Raiders, an event that brought Shmi's son, Anakin Skywalker, and his soon-to-be-wife, Padmé Amidala, to the Lars moisture farm. Three years later, Beru had already married Owen and taken on his last name. When the galactic conflict came to a close, Beru and Owen became the guardians of their new baby nephew, Luke Skywalker, after his father turned to the dark side of the Force and became Darth Vader. Jedi Master and friend to Anakin, Obi-Wan Kenobi delivered infant Luke to the Lars homestead.

Raising Skywalker
For the next nineteen years, the Lars raised Skywalker like a son. Beru would often defend Skywalker's interests against Owen, who was overprotective of him out of fear that he would follow in Anakin's footsteps. A year after the Great Drought, Owen was kidnapped by the Wookiee bounty hunter Black Krrsantan for unpaid water taxes to Jabba the Hutt. Beru sought after her husband armed with a rifle, telling a nine year old Luke to stay safe within the homestead.

Eight years later, Kenobi, following a brief confrontation with the former Sith apprentice Maul, visited the Lars moisture farm but watched from a distance. Kenobi heard Beru calling out to a seventeen year old Luke from within the homestead, and saw Luke running back toward the house against a binary sunset.

By 0 BBY, Luke, now nineteen, wanted to explore the wider galaxy, having never left Tatooine. Though Owen refused numerous times to let Skywalker go when he wished to leave home and join the Academy, Beru convinced her husband to let Skywalker go after staying on for only one more season. This decision coincided with the aftermath of the theft of the Death Star plans and Darth Vader's capture of Princess Leia Organa over Tatooine.

Death
Around this time, Luke and Owen purchased two droids from a Jawa sandcrawler that stopped by their homestead. These two droids were the protocol droid C-3PO and the astromech droid R2-D2, who were being hunted by the Empire. Before dinner, Luke cleaned the two droids in the garage where he found a message from Princess Leia meant to be received by Obi-Wan. Luke told Beru and Owen about this recording at the dinner table which prompted discussion about the relationship between Kenobi and Luke's father. Owen also discussed Luke staying another season on the farm, which Beru intervened and tried to reason with her husband that Luke shouldn't stay on the farm forever. In this conversation she likened Luke with his father, an idea that Owen was not fond of. After dinner Luke returned to the garage and found that Artoo had fled the homestead. The next morning Luke told Beru that he'd had some chores to do and went with Threepio to look for Artoo, who was secretly carrying the stolen Death Star plans. A concerned Owen could not find Luke, who was supposed to have the two droid to the south ridge by midday. He spoke to Beru about it, who told him that Luke had left early to complete some chores and that he had taken the two droids with him. While Luke was away, Beru and her husband were killed by Imperial stormtroopers searching for the droids.

Personality and traits
In contrast to her husband Owen, who was mainly gruff and cranky, Beru was warm. She loved Luke and he was their son in all but name. She always spoiled Skywalker every time she had a chance.

Behind the scenes
"Aunt Beru, the wife of Owen Lars, raised Luke Skywalker as her own after his mother died and father went off the deep end. She's more than an adoptive parent and a moisture farmer, she's one of the few adults who puts up with Luke's constant pining for the Academy."

- Bonnie Burton

The character of Beru Lars has existed in one form or another since the rough draft of "The Star Wars" in 1974. In this draft, Beru and Owen Lars are anthropologists; there is also a character named "Clieg Whitsun." In the 1975 version of the script, the Larses own a moisture ranch, but they are the parents of Skywalker's cousin, Leia. In a later version of this story, Beru protects Skywalker from violent outburst by Owen. However, by an early 1976 version, the character is finalized and the element of the Larses being killed by Imperial stormtroopers is added.

British actress Shelagh Fraser was cast to play Aunt Beru in Star Wars. Fraser's first day of shooting was April 1, 1976; the shots of the Lars' charred skeletons were filmed a few days prior. When post-production on the film began, sound mixer Derek Ball traveled to Fraser's house and recorded additional dialogue. In the mono soundmix of the first release of Star Wars, different takes for Beru's lines were used. All subsequent home video sound mixes use the same take that was used in the initial theatrical Dolby mixes.

In the 1981 National Public Radio Star Wars radio drama adapted by Brian Daley and directed by John Madden, Beru was voiced by Anne Gerety.

On July 7, 2000, StarWars.com announced that sixteen-year-old Australian actress Bonnie Maree Piesse would be playing the role of a younger Beru in Episode II. Piesse would approach Beru as being a little shy, the idea being that it was the introduction of Luke into her life that matured her. George Lucas wanted to make sure that Beru's costume was similar to the one worn in the first film to help establish a visual connection. Her wardrobe was also partially inspired by that of Skywalker's friend Camie in A New Hope. The first time fans would hear the name "Beru Whitesun" was in September 2000, when Lucasfilm began registering domain names featuring names of characters and other things from the upcoming film. This same month, Piesse and the crew were filming the Tatooine scenes in Tunisia. Lucas also filmed part of a scene for Episode III in which a stand-in actor playing Obi-Wan delivers baby Luke to Owen, played by Joel Edgerton. However, this would be changed during the Episode III shoot in September 2003. Lucas filmed Ewan McGregor handing the baby to Piesse, with Owen being played by a stand-in&mdash;Edgerton would be shot and added in almost a year later. Lucas made this change because he "felt it would be better if Luke were handed over to a woman."

Deleted scenes
At least one shot of Beru didn't make the final 1977 cut of Star Wars: before the family dinner scene, there is a shot of Beru filling a pitcher of blue milk from a dispenser in a portion of the kitchen not visible in the film. Also, a popular production still from the film reveals that the dinner scene was shot, or at least rehearsed, with the family members sitting in different seats than in the film.

A more substantial Beru scene was cut from Attack of the Clones: after Anakin Skywalker returns to the farm with his mother's body, Beru helps Amidala prepare a meal, featuring blue milk, for Skywalker, having a short conversation with Amidala about Naboo and her own reluctance to travel. Nonetheless, this scene does appear in the film's novelization. A shot of Beru and the Larses waving goodbye to Anakin and Padmé was also shot but not used in the final film.