We’ve known for a while that Rian Johnson was casting a new female lead for STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII (I foolishly, and somewhat sexistly, thought that meant curtains for Rey in VII), and he’s allegedly looked at folks like Olivia Cooke, Tatiana Maslany, Gina Rodriguez, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw for the role. Now, our buddy Jeff Sneider alleges on Meet the Movie Press that the latest name in the mix is Bel Powley, the 23-year-old star of Marielle Heller’s DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL.
She’s gotten great notices for her lead role in that film, and has been acting across the pond for the better part of the past decade. Plus, like Daisy Ridley and Felicity Jones, she’s British, which…I don’t know, may mean something, may not…
Johnson’s being really deliberate with the pre-production on EP VIII, and with good reason; now, he not only has to make sure his film lives up to the OT, but also the BIGGEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME, which people have fresh in their memories (plus, he’s missing a cast member that drew a lot of water to FORCE AWAKENS…). He needs to find someone as good and appropriate as Ridley and Boyega if his film’s introducing another core character, so good on him as he runs through every possible candidate.
Let’s see if any of the names mentioned, or one not revealed yet, ends up getting the gig before they start shooting later this year (I wouldn’t even blink if they pushed this one back to the mid-December date of the original).
Somewhere, out there in the galaxy, Rian Johnson may be cooking up the spiritual successor to EMPIRE STRIKES BACK featuring Luke Skywalker in a key role and tragedy that will make those tears after Kylo’s fateful decision seem like mild condensation. The suspense is terrible…I hope it’ll last.
STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII will only come out on May 26th, 2017 if Rian and the company step on it!
