Sorry, May the Fourth, you’ll have to find some other nerdy claim to fame. Disney dropped a surprise cast list for “Star Wars: Episode VII” this afternoon (April 29), including some surprising choices.
We assume that cast members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker, whose return was announced alongside the new additions, will reprise their original roles. (But then again, you know what they say about assuming.)
Them aside, here’s our guide to the new additions to the announced “Star Wars: Episode VII” cast, their distinctive skills and our best guesses as to who they might be playing in the movie:
John Boyega
What You Know Him From: Moses in “Attack the Block”
Special Skills: Prior alien-fighting experience
What He Might Be Playing: No idea! There were early reports that Abrams was looking for a male and female in their twenties, a description Boyega would fit. If he’s the male half of the duo, who’s his counterpart?
Daisy Ridley
What You Know Her From: You don’t. Ridley is a fresh face on the scene, with just a few non-recurring TV and short film credits to her name.
Special Skills: Unknown.
What She Might Be Playing: Could Ridley be playing the part that Lupita Nyong’o was up for? It was reported that the actress met with Abrams to play a descendant of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Or, perhaps she’s playing the other half of the young male/female duo mentioned in reports.
Adam Driver
What You Know Him From: Adam on “Girls,” Al Cody in “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Special Skills: Thousand-mile stare, knows a song about outer space, former Marine (fighting skills)
What He Might Be Playing: When Driver was in talks for the movie, it was reported that he would play the villain. Will he be a Jedi gone bad, or an entirely different breed?
Oscar Isaac
What You Know Him From: Llewyn in “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Special Skills: Expert wanderer, see Adam Driver re: song about outer space
What He Might Be Playing: Your guess is as good as ours. (Our guess is Llewyn Davis, still trying to make the music thing happen in a new locale.)
Andy Serkis
What You Know Him From: Voice and body model for Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” franchise, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”
Special Skills: Rubber face, voices, experience playing non-humans
What He Might Be Playing: Serkis is best known for his voice and motion-capture work, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see his talents in those fields put to use in the new “Star Wars.” The real question is what fantastical alien form he’ll take. Do we smell a new, non-robotic sidekick?
Domhnall Gleeson
What You Know Him From: Tim in “About Time,” Bill Weasley in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2″
Special Skills: Wizardry, time travel
What He Might Be Playing: Beats us! The Irish actor is no stranger to science fiction, having bent the rules of time and space in last year’s “About Time.” Gleeson’s casting comes as almost a total surprise — some might even say it’s out of this world.
What parts do you think the new cast members will play? Are you happy with today’s announcement?
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