‘Star Wars Episode VII’ Casts Lupita Nyong’o And Gwendoline Christie
Star Wars Episode VII is casting Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o and Game of Thrones’ Gwendoline Christie. The news was announced on Monday morning.
A statement dated May 30, but posted over at StarWars.com on Monday, June 2 says:
“Lupita Nyong’o joins the recently announced cast of ‘Star Wars: Episode VII.’ This year, her breakthrough performance in ’12 Years a Slave’ earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.”
“Gwendoline Christie, currently starring in the hit television series ‘Game of Thrones’ as Brienne of Tarth, has also been cast in the production. She can next be seen in ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.'”
The news follows the release of several behind-the-scenes images of the filming of Star Wars Episode VII by TMZ, which show director J.J. Abrams on set in Abu Dhabi, where the film is currently in production.
After the cast was officially announced by Disney and Abrams, the production was ready to start and the director shared a #dayone tweet when filming for Star Wars Episode VII finally started:
#dayone pic.twitter.com/18jtSH7xYM
— Bad Robot (@bad_robot) May 16, 2014
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy had a brief statement regarding the casting news for Star Wars Episode VII:
“I could not be more excited about Lupita and Gwendoline joining the cast of Episode VII,” says Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. “It’s thrilling to see this extraordinarily talented ensemble taking shape.”
Nyong’o and Christie join the rest of the Star Wars Episode VII cast which includes original trilogy cast members Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker. Newcomers include, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow.
Not much is known about the plot for Star Wars Episode VII except that it takes place 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the last episode in the original trilogy.
Rumors are that the story will heavily focus on Han Solo (Ford) and Princess Leia’s (Fisher) son, reportedly played by Driver, who is tempted by the Dark Side and his parents attempt to rescue him and bringing him back to The Force.
For the first time in franchise history, Star Wars Episode VII will not be released in May, the traditional time for all previous premieres. Instead the much anticipated film is scheduled to open in the US on December 18, 2015.
[Image via Bing]
