STOP THE PRESSES!
Er, well, make that “stop the press.” After months and months and months of casting rumors, Disney has finally announced (and revealed the above rehearsal picture of) the official cast of Star Wars: Episode VII (and even released a rehearsal picture, above). The first film in the blockbuster franchise to be directed by J.J. Abrams, will also feature the return of beloved original cast members Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) and Kenny Baker (R2-D2).
That said, Disney was tight-lipped about which characters these new cast members would be playing, but at least we finally know who made the cut. So, without further ado, the all-new Star Wars Episode VII cast members are…
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
Meet the New Cast of Star Wars: Episode VII
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John Boyega
John Boyega got his start playing a leopard in an elementary school play. Since then he headlined Joe Cornish's cult sci-fi hit Attack the Block, and secured high profile roles in the upcoming TV mini-series "24: Live Another Day" and Race, a biopic of Jesse Owens directed by Stephen Hopkins (Predator 2).
MUST SEE FILM: John Boyega is charismatic and thoroughly dangerous in Attack the Block, a smart alien invasion thriller in which he stars as a street thug who rises to the challenge of fighting off carnivorous extra-terrestrials.
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Oscar Isaac
Juilliard graduate Oscar Isaac has been scooping up one high-profile supporting role after another in films like Drive, Sucker Punch and Robin Hood before finally landing his biggest, most acclaimed role to date in last year's acclaimed Coen Bros. folk music tribute, Inside Llewyn Davis.
MUST SEE FILM: As the title character in Inside Llewyn Davis, Oscar Isaac painted a fascinating portrait of talent and self-sabotage. Plus, he sings his own songs, and he's pretty fantastic at it.
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Adam Driver
Another Juilliard graduate, Adam Driver has played supporting roles in such critically acclaimed dramas as Lincoln and Frances Ha, but he's best known for his Emmy Award-nominated performance as Lena Dunham's lover Adam Sackler on HBO's "Girls."
MUST SEE FILM: "Girls" may be his biggest role to date, but you've got to love his performance as Lev Shapiro, the potential love interest of Greta Gerwig in Noah Baumbach's arrested development dramedy Frances Ha.
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Daisy Ridley
The freshest face in the Star Wars: Episode VII cast, actress Daisy Ridley has appeared on the TV series "Silent Witness" and will co-star in the upcoming horror film Scrawl.
MUST SEE FILM: Scrawl, apparently. It will be her first feature film, unless for some reason it premieres after Star Wars: Episode VII.
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Domhnall Gleeson
Tony Award-nominee Domhnall Gleeson got his start in the Oscar-winning live-action short film Six Shooter before moving on to feature film roles in True Grit, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Dredd, and Anna Karenina.
MUST SEE FILM: It's not out yet, but you have to see Domhnall Gleeson's unrecognizable (albeit brief) performance in John Michael McDonough's Calvary, in which he plays a serial killer seeking absolution from a priest played by his real-life father, Brendan Gleeson. Chilling work.
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Andy Serkis
Andy Serkis's motion-captured performance as Gollum in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy set him on the path to becoming one of Hollywood's most respected physical performers. He went on to more motion-capture roles in King Kong, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and this summer's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. (He's also appeared in live-action in King Kong, The Prestige and 13 Going on 30.) He will also direct an upcoming adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, using motion-capture technology to bring the talking animals to life.
MUST SEE FILM: His work on The Lord of the Rings was revolutionary, but his portrayal of the intelligent ape Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes represents his most subtle, dramatic and complex work to date.
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Max von Sydow
The oldest Star Wars: Episode VII cast member (at age 85), veteran actor Max von Sydow's credits are almost too numerous to mention. He's starred in such classic films as The Exorcist, The Seventh Seal, Flash Gordon and Hannah and Her Sisters. Most recently he was nominated for his second Academy Award for his supporting performance in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
MUST SEE FILM: If you haven't seen The Exorcist yet there's probably something wrong with you, but his best film to date is still probably The Seventh Seal, Ingmar Bergman's classic fantasy about a medieval knight (von Sydow) playing a chess game with the grim reaper that has unexpected consequences.
