Star Wars Episode VII News: Week 5

Saoirse Ronan in Episode VII?

     This week on the Star Wars news front, there have been mainly casting rumors. These have been the actors to watch out for:

- Benedict Cumberbatch 

- Saoirse Ronan 

- Ryan Gosling 

- Alex Pettyfer 

- Michael B. Jordan 

- Rachel Hurd-Wood 

- Cillian Murphy 

- Jonathan Rhys-Meyers 

- Abigail Breslin

-Sullivan Stapleton

     Rachel Hurd-Wood and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers were mentioned in early September as possible contenders for Episode VII. No word has been out about them since. Many of the others on the list haven't said a word officially on the subject. Sullivan Stapleton, according to Latino Review, has auditioned for the movie, and has already gotten in trouble for talking about it. Benedict Cumberbatch has resurfaced yet again as a possible cast member, and while he has denied these rumors, many Star Trek fans point out that he also denied playing Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness (spoiler alert!). But one of the most important rumors this week: Saoirse Ronan has confirmed that she has auditioned for Episode VII.

     After she confirmed it to the UK's Sky News, she followed it up with, "So has everyone." When asked further about the film, she said  if she revealed any more, the studio execs would "chop off [her] head with a lightsaber".

     It might seem unlikely that Ronan would get into Star Wars when there are plenty of A-list actors who would love the job. However, J.J. Abrams might be looking for relatively unknown faces for the new movie. This would be keeping after the cast of the original trilogy. Mark Hamill was only known for TV roles, Carrie Fisher was only in one film prior to Star Wars, and Harrison Ford, well, actually, Harrison Ford was pretty popular.

If J.J. Abrams is trying to keep within the spirit of the original trilogy, then big name actors (besides the original cast, of course) would only serve to distract the audience from the movie, which is precisely why Simon Pegg flat out refused to be in Episode VII, despite loving the franchise. When it comes to Star Wars, unknown is better.