It’s easy to forget that JJ Abrams is still directing Star Wars Episode VII whenever people stop talking about it for five minutes every six weeks or so. But it’s true, it’s set for a December 2015 release, and it has even begun filming. And now comes official word from the studio that the cast will include Lupita Nyong’o from 12 Years A Slave and Gwendoline Christie, better known to Game of Thrones fans as Brienne of Tarth. She really does look like a “Gwendoline,” doesn’t she?
From the press release, via Entertainment Weekly:
Lupita Nyong’o joins the recently announced cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. This year, her breakthrough performance in 12 Years a Slave earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Gwendoline Christie, currently starring in the hit television series Game of Thrones as Brienne of Tarth, has also been cast in the production. She can next be seen in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. “I could not be more excited about Lupita and Gwendoline joining the cast of Episode VII,” says Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. “It’s thrilling to see this extraordinarily talented ensemble taking shape.”
I’ve made it something of a personal goal to learn as little as possible about the plot of Star Wars, but not speculating in any way as to who they’ll be playing, I nonetheless love this casting. The beautiful, super petite and bird-like black woman with the six-foot-three blonde British giant known for playing an androgynous knight. If Star Wars doesn’t work out, I’d definitely watch a buddy cop movie. Or maybe some sort of Bronx Story-style neighborhoody New York coming-of-age tale, with lots of extended shots of Lupita Nyong’o and Brienne of Tarth, just rolling dice and keepin it real as shit.
Fun fact: Gwendoline Christie was apparently a “semi-professional gymnast” as a child, which I find mind blowing.