As revealed on the official Star Wars website on Monday, June 2, two new cast members have been added to Star Wars: Episode VII roster, a list that was announced back in early-May (which includes most of the original actors from the original trilogy ).
Adding their names to the movie’s cast are 12 Years a Slave’s Lupita Nyong’o (Patsey) and Game of Thrones’ ( Brienne of Tarth ) Gwendoline Christie.
Nyong’o recently won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress earlier this year, and Christie will continue to play her role in Game of Thrones . She’ll also be appearing in the upcoming Hunger Games sequel, Mockingjay – Part 2 .
” I could not be more excited about Lupita and Gwendoline joining the cast of Episode VII , ” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy stated in the announcement. ” It’s thrilling to see this extraordinarily talented ensemble taking shape. ”
LucasFilm confirmed on Friday, April 25 that all future Star Wars content will be the new canon to the franchise. With this announcement, it’d be safe to assume that upcoming videogame titles such as DICE’s Star Wars: Battlefront and Visceral Games’ unnamed Star Wars project will also be part of this canon.
The writer and creative director of the Uncharted series, Amy Hennig, recently joined Visceral Games to work on said unnamed Star Wars project. While some elements may be included from Star Wars’ Expanded Universe, it’s been interpreted that the majority of it will be disregarded in favor of the new canon. Star Wars: Episode VII will also be part of this new canon by assumption.
Principal photography began for Star Wars: Episode VII on Tuesday, March 18. The film is slated to release in theatres worldwide on December 18, 2015 .
[ StarWars.com ]