This just in from Lucasfilm:
The Star Wars team is thrilled to announce the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII.
Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film.
Director J.J. Abrams says, “We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud.”
Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.
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No details were released on the newcomers’ roles in the film. Here’s a little about the actors themselves:
Adam Driver, age 30, is famous from the HBO series Girls. Variety reported earlier this year that he would feature as a villain in Episode VII.
Oscar Isaacs is a singer and actor who has had roles in films such as Sucker Punch and The Bourne Legacy and the starring role in the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis.
I’m particularly excited about Max von Sydow. He’s a great actor famous for scene-chewing as Ming the Merciless in 1980’s Flash Gordon and Liet Kynes in 1984’s Dune, among many other credits. He was recently nominated for an Academy Award for his role in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Daisy Ridley is a UK actress currently appearing in Mr. Selfridge on Masterpiece.
Nigerian-British actor John Boyega is perhaps best known for the sci-fi comedy Attack the Block.
Domhnall Gleeson hails from Dublin, Ireland, and is the son of Brendan Gleeson (Mad-Eye Moody in the Harry Potter films). He also played Bill Weasley in the last two Harry Potter movies, in addition to appearances in Dredd, Anna Karenina and True Grit.
Not in the announcement text above, but pictured in the cast photo, is Andy Serkis (Gollum from Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth movies and Caesar from Rise of the Planet of the Apes).
