We know that Benicio Del Toro is likely playing the villain in Rian Johnson’s STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII, but now we have another crop of potential fresh faces to the franchise. The Wrap reports that the following actresses are in contention for the female lead in the follow-up to THE FORCE AWAKENS:
Tatiana Maslany, Olivia Cooke, and Gina Rodriguez.
All three are up-and-comers with at least one breakout role to their credit. Maslany, of course, has been amassing fans left and right with her role on ORPHAN BLACK, which has netted her both an Emmy and a Golden Globe nom thus far. She also appeared in DIARY OF THE DEAD and the Tatum/McAdams starrer THE VOW, and was previously up for Felicity Jones’ part in ROGUE ONE. Cooke (also allegedly up for READY PLAYER ONE) made an impression as the titular “dying girl” in ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL, and has a genre repertoire that includes THE SIGNAL, THE QUIET ONES, and OUIJA. Rodriguez (who, interestingly, cites Maslany as an inspiration in this interview) has made a big splash as the title character on JANE THE VIRGIN, winning a Golden Globe in the show’s first season.
They’re apparently “among a group of girls slated to chemistry-read with THE FORCE AWAKENS star John Boyega before the end of the month.” So it’s safe to say that her character has some sort of meaningful relationship with Finn (love interest?). There’s also the rumor that Han Solo’s daughter would be featured in the film, and only Rodriguez’ ethnicity contradicts that possibility (though not completely…who said it had to be Leia’s kid?).
Johnson has elicited terrific female performances from Emily Blunt, Rachel Weisz, and Nora Zehetner, which gives added incentive to these young actresses beyond just getting to brandish a blaster/lightsaber and talk about The Force. If these are indeed the three finalists, we should hear which one Johnson & co. settle on in the next couple months as the show gears to get going in early 2016. If not, well, then keep your eyes and ears open for the next SW female lead.
STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII will hopefully make things really lofty and challenging on May 26th, 2017.
