When the complete cast for Star Wars: Episode VII was announced a few weeks back, the internet just about broke in half; but after the dust settled and we all calmed down a bit from our nerdgasms, we noticed that there was one glaring problem with this new cast… there was only one new female character among the seven new cast members. While one major female character might have been okay for 1977, it is glaringly out of date for today, especially when there are so many female fans of the franchise. Fairly quickly (as in, the very same day the cast was announced) it was reported that indeed there would be at least another female role in Star Wars Episode VII, and that she simply remained uncast up to this point. The internet calmed down a little bit more after that. But just a smidge.
Well, today we learned that it might be not just one new female role, but two. The first is a name we’d heard before, Oxford actress Maisie Richardson-Sellers. According to a report from Latino-Review, she has been seen around the production offices for Star Wars, and I would say there’s a good chance she’s not just there hanging out. The other actress is Katie Jarvis, a British actress best known for her role in a movie called Fishtank. The original Michael Arndt draft for Episode VII was set to feature multiple female parts, but the script was later re-written by JJ Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan. Could they be re-thinking their approach to the whole sausage party in a galaxy far, far away, now that they have come under such scrutiny? I know JJ Abrams wants a Star Wars that is far more inclusive than what we’ve had so far, and this would be a good step in the right direction.
Star Wars: Episode VII just began principal photography this week, so if there are going to be new cast members, male or female, it’s not something Disney can keep under wraps for very much longer.
Could Katie Jarvis be another child of Han and Leia? I see a little bit of Carrie Fisher in that side-eye.