The new guard and old guard.

When Lucasfilm was sold to Disney, long-time film industry veteran Kathleen Kennedy was given the reigns of the company and one of the most valuable intellectual properties in Hollywood. Today, The Hollywood Reporter sat down with Kennedy to talk about how she got J.J. Abrams to sign on, how she met her husband, and her relationship with some of the biggest names in the film business.

On getting J.J. Abrams to work on a different Star franchise:

Abrams agreed to meet with Kennedy on Dec. 14 at his Bad Robot offices in Santa Monica. Famously plain-spoken, she summarizes her pitch like this: “Please do Star Wars.” And she had cards to play. Not only was Oscar winnerMichael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3) writing the script, but Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back and 1983’s Return of the Jedi, was on board to consult. Abrams “was flipping out when he found out that Michael and Larry were on the movie already,” says Kennedy.

Abrams tells THR, “I learned firsthand how incredible and persuasive she is.” Some — but not all — of his reservations were dispelled. “The thing about any pre-existing franchise — I’d sort of done that,” he says. “But when I met with Kathy, it was suddenly very tantalizing.”

For more, read THR’s full profile of Kathleen Kennedy.