Jesse Plemons: Reports About ‘Star Wars’ Role Are Just Crazy Rumors

Jesse Plemons will reportedly playing a lead role in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VIII, but an inside source in Hollywood says it’s nothing more than a rumor.

That source? Jesse Plemons.

This week the Breaking Bad and Friday Night Lights actor cleared up reports that J.J. Abrams has picked him to play the lead in the newest Star Wars film.

“No,” Plemons told Hitfix about reports of the Star Wars role. “Yeah, I think it’s just one of those crazy rumors.”

But while he may not be inked in for a role just yet, Plemons is definitely under consideration, Abrams confirmed.

“He is one of the actors that we’ve talked to,” Abrams said. “But it’s not often that I read about actors that I’m going to be meeting … I get to read articles about actors who are going to come in. And so I get to see someone and say, ‘Oh, I read that I was going to see you!’ … It’s a lot of noise.”

Jesse Plemons was best known to television audiences as Landry Clark, the unlikely football player who transformed into a key player for the East Dillon Lions on Friday Night Lights. That is, until he took a role as the dark and sociopathic killer Todd on Breaking Bad.

Plemons said the role was so jarring that some fans have a hard time separating Jesse Plemons from Todd.

“I think [for] some people it takes a few seconds before they realize I’m not actually Todd, the child murderer,” he said of meeting with fans since filming Breaking Bad, which just won Best Ensemble in a Drama Series at the SAG Awards. “But yeah, people just overall kinda love the show, so it’s always exciting.”

Star Wars: Episode VII has been given a December 18, 2015, release date, giving Abrams time to retool the script. It’s unknown what role Jesse Plemons is being considered for.