The official site finally put to bed all rumors and announced the cast of Episode VII.
“Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film.”
HUZZAH. Fandom knows Andy Serkis from the Lord of the Rings films, playing Gollum, while Domhnall Gleeson played Bill Weasley in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Oscar Davis starred in the film Inside Llewyn Davis, while Adam Driver is best known for his role in the HBO series Girls.
Also: MAX VON FRICKIN SYDOW? Wow, okay. On a diversity note, we’ve got two POCs in the main cast…but only one girl. Oh well, at least it’s some progress!
Finally, a fangirl note from the author of this post: JEDI MASTER LUKE SKYWALKER RIDES AGAIN!
Now, let the speculation of who they’re all playing begin.
Mark Hamill will be playing Chewbacca, calling it now!
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There’s no Mara Jade in there, by any stretch of the imagination.
Re: no Mara:
The six announced new cast members (plus the supposed female actress yet to be announced) fit the casting breakdown leaked last June. Which is interesting because the breakdown was based on Arndt’s script focusing on the Solo/Skywalker offspring. Like most everyone else, I think Gleeson is playing Luke’s son, Ridley is Han and Leia’s daughter.
However, Bad Robot/Lucasfilm/Disney knew the breakdown was leaked, so they knew fans would be looking for those actors who fit those descriptions. That doesn’t mean additional casting didn’t take place (like Andy Serkis playing CGI Motion Capture Guy), or Abrams didn’t go direct to the actors he wanted for certain other roles. They are feeding us information based on information that’s already out there. There’s no reason for them to parade other cast additions until such time they want to reveal it, and we all know how much JJ luuuurves his secrecy. Note how Von Sydow isn’t in the photo? Not everyone is present, which makes sense as films tend to schedule scenes that take place with a certain actor and/or on a certain set to be filmed consecutively, for efficiency’s sake.
If there is a Mara (and I really hope there is, don’t get me wrong, and I love that Gleeson has red-gold hair), she’s probably not a major character (sigh, diversity, sigh) and shows up ala Aunt Beru: at the beginning to establish Luke’s current living situation, maybe to be killed to galvanize Luke and son into action – again, hope not, but it IS a Star Wars trope – and then is either off-screen peacefully or in a grave. So no need to have her at the table read and no need to make a fuss about finding the right actress ala the next gen actors, who will conceivably be playing these parts for years to com.
Or not!