When I first heard that Disney had bought Lucasfilm and would be making a new Star Wars trilogy, I was sceptical. Mainly it was because of how disappointing the prequels were, but then I heard that George Lucas would not be creatively involved, which gave it the chance to be a lot better.
Upon discovering who would be the creative team behind it, I got very excited. I was a huge fan of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek films and Michael Arndt wrote Toy Story 3, which in my opinion is the best animated film of all time.
But like everyone else, I wondered who would be in the film. How many of the old cast would we see? How many newcomers would there be? Today we got some answers, and here are my thoughts on them...
Mark Hamill - Needless to say, Hamill's star has faded since he hung up his lightsaber. In the 33 years since he last played Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi, he has mostly done voiceovers and direct-to-DVD films. The highlight of this was his portrayal of the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series and the video games Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City. Could returning to his most famous role be a second coming for him? At any rate it will be interesting to see an older and wiser Luke.
Harrison Ford - What can be said about this man that hasn't been said already? He's a juggernaut, a legend in every sense of the word. I could list the numerous well known films he's been in, but is there any point? Hopefully seeing him reprise his other most famous role will be a lot more satisfying than Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull!
Carrie Fisher - Other than her roles as Marie in When Harry Met Sally and Angela in Family Guy, Fisher has mostly done the odd cameo here and there. She is also known for her bestselling autobiography, Wishful Drinking. I haven't seen her in anything for a long time, but I am interested to see how this much older Leia will differ from the one we saw in the original trilogy.
Peter Mayhew - I was surprised to hear that he would be returning, due to his recent health issues. But it is exciting to know that we will see Chewie again and it just wouldn't feel right if it was someone else in that suit.
Anthony Daniel and Kenny Baker - No Star Wars film would be complete without C-3PO and R2-D2.
John Boyega - I haven't seen him in anything, but this actor who made his name in Attack the Block is currently having his profile raised by his appearance in 24: Live Another Day. I may have to look into his work...
Daisy Ridley - Completely unknown, so I haven't seen her in anything. She seems to be the only female in the main cast besides Fisher. I'll wait until I see the film, but casting an unknown could be a work of genius.
Adam Driver - Great actor. Really liked him in HBO's Girls, playing a character who is disgusting and not very likeable to begin with, but is revealed to have so much more depth as it progresses. I must admit that while I liked the show's first season, it went steadily downhill after that. Even so, he was still enjoyable to watch and I look forward to seeing him in this.
Domhnall Gleeson - Big fan of him. First saw him in the hilarious TV series Your Bad Self before he had some memorable supporting roles in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, True Grit and Never Let Me Go. But he didn't really get his chance to shine until he starred in the independent Irish film Sensation about an unconventional romance between a young farmer and a prostitute.
Oscar Isaac - So far I have only seen this actor in the amazing Drive and the godawful Sucker Punch. In the latter he was let down by an appalling script, but in the former he was able to flourish and flesh out his character, a sympathetic family man who made a lot of bad decisions. He has received a lot of acclaim for his role in Inside Llewyn Davis, which I may have to watch now.
Andy Serkis - There were never any rumours about this, but it makes perfect sense. Serkis is the king of motion capture, so it's easy to assume that he is going to be playing a non-human character. Considering the way he has brought to life characters such as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Kong in King Kong and Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, that is an exciting prospect. But he is an excellent actor and it's hard to know what kind of character he will play.
Max von Sydow - Perhaps as big a legend as Harrison Ford, he has forged one hell of a career over the course of the last six decades. It's very interesting that they put an iconic horror actor in each Star Wars trilogy. First Peter Mayhew, then Christopher Lee and now Max von Sydow, well known for his role as Father Lancaster Merrin in The Exorcist. But will he play a villain like they did? We'll have to wait and see...
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