Star Wars: Episode VII adds an Oscar winner and a Game of Thrones actor to the cast

By Adam Rosenberg June 2, 2014

star wars the force awakens lupita nyongo character — Lupita Nyong'o Image used with permission by copyright holder

Add two more actors to the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII: Lupita Nyong’o and Gwendoline Christie. The casting is confirmed at the source, on StarWars.com, though there’s no word on which characters they’ll be taking on.

Gwendoline Christie — Gwendoline Christie Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nyong’o, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in 2013’s 12 Years a Slave, was rumored to be up for a role in the film back in March. The report suggested that she’d be playing some descendant of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, though that possibility was never corroborated and shouldn’t be considered confirmed even now that Nyong’o is officially cast.

There’s even less to be said about Christie, beyond the fact that the casting of these two women addresses a notable absence of female roles that was observed after the original casting announcement. Christie is best-known for her performance as Brienne of Tarth on HBO’s Game of Thrones, though she’ll also be appearing in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.

“I could not be more excited about Lupita and Gwendoline joining the cast of Episode VII,” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said in a prepared statement. “It’s thrilling to see this extraordinarily talented ensemble taking shape.”

Star Wars: Episode VII is set to hit theaters on December 18, 2015.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

Entertainment

Andor shows how human and political Star Wars can be

Andor looks to his right in Andor.

The content being added to Disney+ seems to be coming at breakneck speed. Yet, whether it's from Marvel Studios or Lucasfilm's Star Wars shows, treating serialized storytelling like an assembly line starts to dilute the point of "hourlong dramas" and chips away at the emotional impact that these stories should be having. Obi-Wan Kenobi was a solid throwback romp with Ewan McGregor reprising his role as the beloved legacy character, but it suffered from surprisingly low production value and that it was painfully obvious that this was supposed to be a movie first. The Book of Boba Fett before it also felt like abridged fan service that pulled the rug out from under its lead protagonist.

But now with Andor, perhaps the show that was the least demanded out of the current slate of Star Wars shows, we've seen the rawest, most sincere storytelling in the franchise since, well, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. In its eight episodes so far, Andor hasn't lost the forest for the trees and has homed in on telling a unique, gripping sci-fi story first and franchise marketing second.
Focused on a raw, tight scale

Entertainment

Andor has a chance to make Star Wars feel fresh one more time

Diego Luna walks through a scrapyard of ships in a scene from Andor.

After the long road starting from the lead character's inception in 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story to the series' announcement in 2018, Andor has finally premiered on Disney+ with the potential to be the most ambitious show on the streamer since The Mandalorian. The three-episode premiere made a solid first impression, showcasing exciting new elements to see front and center in a Star Wars production.

It's grounded, grittier, and setting the stage for tantalizing character drama and political intrigue across its cast of characters. At the same time, it's still early days for this 12-episode season (and 24-episode series overall), and Lucasfilm has been falling back into the trap of timeline overfamiliarity. The budding age of the Rebellion on its face is far from original for a franchise with such boundless possibilities, but Andor's moving pieces could make this era worthwhile -- at least one more time.
The post-Revenge of the Sith, pre-A New Hope dilemma

Entertainment

How Star Wars should evolve beyond the Skywalker Saga

Luke looking off into the binary sunset before dying in The Last Jedi.

Disney+ is making no secret of its massive push to fill the platform with constant big-name projects from the likes of Star Wars and Marvel, and -- for better or worse -- that plan doesn't seem to be slowing down. High-profile events like the recent San Diego Comic-Con and Star Wars Celebration gave general road maps for what these franchises have in store, though, one must wonder how much longer the latter in particular can coast off of a timeline that, one way or another, revolves around the Skywalker Saga.

Shows like The Mandalorian proved to be riveting and refreshing tales from different corners of the galaxy that blend several genres, but Lucasfilm is eventually going to have to evolve away from the Skywalker lineage to inject a long-term dose of ambition into the 45-year-old sci-fi fantasy mega-franchise.
Eventually leaving legacy characters to rest