Speculation OFFICIAL Episode VII/Spin-Off Casting Rumors and Speculation Thread

When people say "Unknown actors", if you look at all the movies in the series, is there really a single film that is populated entirely by "unknowns"? In every Star Wars flick you walk into it seeing an actor or three that has been, usually somewhat high profile, in something else. So it won't be entirely populated by "Hey! Who's that guy?"

 

Ugh, this argument is always such a clustercuss, because people just bounce it back and forth assuming the last guy's statements are more absolute than he intended them to be. Drives me nuts. When people say "unknowns" they mean "relative unknowns," television actors or people who've never had leading roles in major studio-produced motion pictures, of which even Harrison Ford was one before IV.

And no, they're not all unknowns, but it builds as casting progresses. The initial casting of IV involved casting Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Artoo, Threepio, and Vader (suit). Then, once it was a real thing with money behind it that was definitely going to happen, people like Alec Guiness and Peter Cushing came onboard. The rest of the OT followed roughly the same pattern, with Frank Oz and Billy Dee being the only other remotely notable actors included (and Billy Dee is arguable).

Then independent and limited release films became a bigger thing between 1983 and 1999, so the definition of "unknown" changed. However, none of the actors were leads in other major studio pictures, except Liam Neeson to some extent, and Sam Jackson (who was only included as a novelty anyway... remember the pre-Episode I petitions?). Certainly none of them were leads in major summer blockbusters.

 

I wonder if Sam Witwer could get a part. He really does love Star Wars, he is good looking, charismatic and has proven himself to be a good voice actor. Though I don't know if he is any good as "conventional actor".

 

He's good. Great roles in BSG and The Mist. Tends to go the dark, tortured route, though, as you could imagine.

 

IDK...something about using him would just seem like REALLY lazy casting. Like you have plenty of new young actors to choose from...but instead you reuse him. Also it would confuse people if he ISNT playing that Starkiller *or whatever the heck he is named*.
EDIT: Now before you go all "But they're reusing the OT cast so you can't say its lazy casting! The OT cast are expected to return so you can't bring them up.

 

Witwer can't play loads of different characters, it would be confusing. He's already Starkiller & Darth Maul's other voice

 

I am fully convinced that Lucas' purposes for using "unknowns" for Star Wars hard more actually to do with budget than it did with his on-record reason of wanting fresh faces. Look at the prequel trilogy when budget was of no concern. It is riddled with well-known and big name stars.

I would not be surprised at all to see relatively well-known faces being cast in these new films to re-launch the Star Wars franchise.

 

Now I won't be able to sleep again at night, thank you very much.

 

The prequel stars weren't stars until the prequels, barring three exceptions:
- Exception: Sam Jackson was, again, a novelty, shoved in by fan request.
- Exception: Liam Neeson was well-known and critically lauded, but not as revered as Alec Guiness.
- Exception: Christopher Lee, another veteran, presence quite similar to that of Alec Guiness. Hardly a pop-culture sensation.
- Natalie Portman: Leon, Mars Attacks. A relative unknown.
- Ewan McGregor: Trainspotting, Velvet Goldmine, A Life Less Ordinary? Edging out of obscurity, but still a relative unknown.
- Jake Lloyd: Nothing.
- Ahmed Best: Nothing.
- Ray Park: Only famous as a stuntman.
- Hayden Christensen: Life As A House. Unknown.
- Temuera Morrison: Barb Wire. Unknown.
- Hell, Rose Byrne was in AOTC, and she wasn't even known yet.
- There were a few character actors and vets throughout like Jimmy Smits, Terrence Stamp, and Brian Blessed, but all in minor roles.
I'm sorry, but when you add it all up, the prequel stars are pretty much on par for the era with the OT stars' level of fame. The ratio of the Guinesses and Cushings versus the Hamills and Fishers is approximately the same in the PT. It just doesn't seem that way because the prequels were more recent, but I'm pretty sure there were just as many people in 1977 who had seen Mark Hamill on TV and knew who Carrie Fisher was because they knew Debbie Reynolds as there were in 1999 who knew who Natalie Portman was from Leon and knew who Ewan McGregor was from Trainspotting.

 

Jake Lloyd: Jingle All the Way...

 

SLJ: Come on, let me be in it. Come on.
GL: Well, I guess that--
SLJ: Come on.
GL: OK, it's fine.
SLJ: Cool, now I have a couple of conditions.
GL: Wait, what?
SLJ: Yeah, I have to have a purple lightsaber and I can't go out like a punk.
GL: -sigh- OK.

 

Make it so. He should have been Anakin IMO. I think he has the Star Wars look...



Ryan Phillippe

 

I remember the days when GL wanted Leonardo DiCaprio for Anakin in AOTC. That was part of why he cast Jake Lloyd... the resemblance. Of course, at the time, DiCaprio was still kind of a teen heartthrob, so of course I was a vehemently opposed teenager... but oh, how little I knew, and how different it would have been if he had said yes...

(I say this as a prequel supporter, but an honest one with no misconceptions about Christensen's acting...)

 

Christensen can act. One look at Shattered Glass proves that. He just had an awful script and average direction to work with. There's only so much an actor can do with that, especially something like Star Wars where everything is so driven by GL's vision.

 

I like the idea of casting actors who like Star Wars to some degree(which I think should be a criteria). We've had too many actors who've said that they regretted the experience, not just in the prequel trilogy.

 

I'm afraid my one look at Shattered Glass proved to me once and for all that he can't. It was a super subdued role, but there was still something missing for me. Looking into his eyes, I just didn't see the intriguing pathological liar that the character should have been. It started to break through toward the end, in the scene by the magazine rack where he implies that he might hurt himself... but one scene isn't enough for me to give him much praise. But hey, I got no beef with the guy; I don't watch Star Wars for nuanced acting. If it's there, it's just a cherry on top.

But point was, somebody who later proved that he was an actor's actor, like DiCaprio, would've lent the remaining prequels a bit more credibility. Whether you like him or not, I have no doubt it would've changed things.

 

Two non-conventional picks for the "70 year old"...Ron Perlman or Sam Elliot.

 

Looking forward to some actual casting news vs. rumors....

 

Andy Serkis for some mo-cap work. Would be awesome.

 

To this day I still believe that James Franco should have been Anakin. He pulls off an amazing "Anakin" performance in Spider-Man 2.

 

You do realize that Sam Elliott plays up his "accent". Seriously, the dude grew up in Sacramento and Portland. He didn't have much of an "accent" in the Hulk.