Can anyone be Force-sensitive in the Star Wars universe?

Laura Dern revealed her character in The Last Jedi was Force-sensitive. So, if Amilyn Holdo can be Force-sensitive, can’t anyone in Star Wars be?

Within the saga films, we’ve heard descriptions of the Force from several different characters. Qui-Gon Jinn explained it with midi-chlorians. Obi-Wan Kenobi described it as something that binds the galaxy together. As of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, even a “nobody” can access it, and without formal training, be able to wield to a lightsaber and pull off incredible mental feats.

But Rey wasn’t the only Force-sensitive woman we saw in The Last Jedi. General Leia also pulled herself out of space with the Force. Plus, Laura Dern revealed that her character, Amilyn Holdo, was Force-sensitive, too.

Although she only piloted the ship and helped save the Resistance, Holdo didn’t do anything special with the Force. Or at least, not in a conventional way. As Dern explained to Entertainment Weekly:

"Yeah, her primary goal was to protect the light, to protect the Force, and to keep the revolutionaries alive. And I think the film speaks so beautifully to that with this last image of the next generation of the Resistance, you know?"

So, she was attuned to a mystical presence, basically. Since Dern also described the character as a hippie, this makes sense. Combined with J.J. Abram’s explanation of the Force, it seems as though anyone can “feel” it if they just choose to pay attention.

Here’s the explanation Abrams gave around the time The Force Awakens came out:

"For me when I heard Obi-Wan say that the Force surrounds us and binds us all together, there was no judgement about who you were. This was something that we could all access. Being strong with the force didn’t mean something scientific, it meant something spiritual. It meant someone who could believe, someone who could reach down to the depths of your feelings and follow this primal energy that was flowing through all of us."

Obviously, this would align with everything we know about Rey, the young woman from Jakku who always felt something dormant inside her. Moreover, it would explain a lot about Finn as well. Like Holdo, he felt a desire to protect the light. Nearly everyone in the Resistance feels that way, including Poe Dameron.

While everyone uses the Force differently, it seems natural that nearly anyone can access it. In fact, we might be confusing being a Jedi and being Force-sensitive as mutually exclusive things when they’re obviously not.

So, it’s like this: All Jedi are Force-sensitive, but not all Force-sensitive people are Jedi. The Rogue One crew did a lot for the galaxy without a lightsaber, so take comfort in that.

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