Star Wars Episode VII casting: Harrison Ford may have big role
Star Wars Episode VII casting has been largely secret during pre-production, but it won't be long before we learn who is starring in the next film.
Star Wars Episode VII casting has been largely secret during pre-production, but it won't be long before we learn who is starring in the next film.
Walt Disney Pictures, Lucasfilm, and J.J. Abrams鈥� Bad Robot Productions have managed to keep a lid on many a secret concerning Abrams鈥櫬�Star Wars: Episode VII聽throughout pre-production; now that second unit filming is underway 鈥� with principal photography gearing up to begin in London 鈥撀爄t won鈥檛 be long聽before we learn which (if聽any) of the casting rumors that鈥檝e sprung up around the project over the past year are true鈥� and which ones are utterly false.
It鈥檚 safe to assume that 鈥� as has long been all-but officially acknowledged 鈥� original聽Star Wars聽trilogy cast members Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford are returning for聽Episode VII, seeing how they鈥檝e聽been spotted in London聽over the past week. Meanwhile, earlier today, we posted an update from actor Zac Efron, who avoided ruling out the possibility that he could indeed be聽headed to the Star Wars universe.
The latest report from聽Deadline, however, makes no mention of Efron; instead, the site indicates that lauded character actor Oscar Isaac 鈥� who headlined the Coen Brothers鈥櫬營nside Llewyn Davis聽last year 鈥� is apparently up for a聽鈥渕ajor role鈥�听颈苍Episode VII. Additionally, previously-reported candidates like聽Adam Driver聽(Girls), young British actor聽John Boyega聽(Attack the Block), and British theater alum聽Maisie Richardson-Sellers聽may still be front-runners for important roles in the film, judging by the latest聽Deadline聽update (which are generally pretty reliable).
As mentioned before, nothing is official yet 鈥� though, the potential聽Episode VII聽cast outlined above is quite strong; besides having its fair share of critically-acclaimed up and comers, the collection of names listed here is relatively diverse (in keeping with Abrams鈥� desire) 鈥� by modern Hollywood tentpole standards, anyway. Now, we just have to wait and see which 鈥� again, if聽any聽-of these younger people are聽actually聽going to be sharing the screen with the older versions of Luke, Leia, and Han Solo.
Speaking of Han 鈥� the聽Deadline聽report also claims that Ford has a聽鈥済igantic role鈥�听颈苍Episode VII; he鈥檚 still the biggest-name star of the original聽Star Wars聽trilogy cast trio and has perhaps remained the most active over the years, as far as live-action acting is concerned. Based on that and the ongoing possibility that聽Indiana Jones 5聽could happen down the line (with Ford reprising as the eponymous archaeologist), this rumor doesn鈥檛 sound altogether unreasonable.
Star Wars: Episode VII聽opens in U.S. theaters on December 18th, 2015.