'Star Wars VII' casting call: Is it real and what clues does it give?

'Star Wars VII' production staff may have recently issued a casting call in the UK. What would it tell us about the plot of 'Star Wars VII'?

|
20th Century Fox/AP
'Star Wars VII' staff recently put out a casting call in the UK. What does it tell us about the new movie?

News, rumors and speculations regarding Star Wars: Episode VII has been coming in thick and fast over the past few weeks as the time until the start of filming closes in, but despite countless suggestions of actors who might be involved there is still very little in the way of concrete information regarding who the stars of this next chapter will be.

Saiorse Ronan has confirmed that she’s auditioned for a part where she had to wield a lightsaber, Chiwetel Ejiofor was recently rumored to be in the running and Benedict Cumberbatch’s name has popped up again and again. The latest information, however, suggests that the new heroes of Star Wars may be people we’ve never even heard of.

Casting agent Claire Curry has posted a list of dates and times for a nationwide open casting call seeking young people to star in a new Disney movie. Casting will take place throughout November at six different locations throughout the UK and Ireland and those who take part will be auditioning for one of two roles: “Thomas,” a youth who doesn’t know how to be a man because he grew up without a father’s influence, and who sounds like a bit of a joker; or “Rachel,” a street-smart teenage orphan who hopes for a better life.

The casting call does not name which movie the casting call is for, which is more or less to be expected, and it’s safe to assume that both of the characters’ names are just temporary pseudonyms. However, Bleeding Cool claims to have received confirmation, “after a full twenty-four hour investigation,” that this casting call definitely is for the new Star Wars movie and that “Thomas” and “Rachel” are both lead roles. This tallies with what we’ve heard before about Star Wars Episode VII‘s plot being focused on a new generation of young Jedis and fighters, while the older cast members play more of a background role.

It might seem odd to have such a major movie seek leads through open casting, rather than simply going for one of the many celebrities that are already rumored to have auditioned, but if there’s one franchise that doesn’t necessarily need an all-star cast to get people in theaters then Star Wars is it. The nationwide scope of this casting call and the location of it (how many major Disney films are going to be shot in Britain over the next year or so?) all point to Star Wars Episode VII – as does the timing of it, since the movie is scheduled to start filming in January.

We’ll keep a small question mark next to it for now, since the connection between this casting call and Star Wars Episode VII hasn’t been confirmed through official channels (and likely never will be), but Bleeding Cool‘s confirmation combined with the fact that all the pieces seem to fit make it a pretty sure bet that “Thomas” and “Rachel” are new Star Wars heroes.

H. Shaw-Williams blogs at Screen Rant.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to 'Star Wars VII' casting call: Is it real and what clues does it give?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Culture-Cafe/2013/1108/Star-Wars-VII-casting-call-Is-it-real-and-what-clues-does-it-give
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe