<Tr> <Th> Gender </Th> <Td> Female </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Occupation </Th> <Td> Former pirate and smuggler Tavern keeper </Td> </Tr> <P> Maz Kanata is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise . Introduced in the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, she is a CGI character voiced and performed through motion capture by Lupita Nyong'o . Maz, a former pirate and smuggler, is over 1000 years old and manages an interstellar tavern in a castle on the fictional planet Takodana . </P> <P> The Force Awakens writer / director J.J. Abrams told Entertainment Weekly in November 2015, "I wanted to do (Maz) as a puppet originally, but once we figured out the things that she was required to do, it felt like performance capture was the way to go ." With most of the other creatures in her scenes being practical effects, Abrams noted: </P>

Who plays maz in star wars the force awakens