Beyond the Lights and Belle star Gugu Mbatha-Raw has allegedly joined the cast of Star Wars: Episode VIII
A new Star Wars: Episode VIII casting rumor has just broken as Collider today alleges that actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw has joined the cast of Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII. The film, which has already starting filming in Ireland, previously cast Benicio Del Toro for a villainous role with recent reports also suggesting that, after whatever happens in J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens, at least one familiar face will be returning.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who also recently appeared in the Wachowskis’ Jupiter Ascending, previously worked with J.J. Abrams on the short-lived spy series “Undercovers.” She was also selected by Tom Hanks to play a leading role in his 2011 directorial feature Larry Crowne (check out our Gugu Mbatha-Raw interview from the Larry Crowne set) and can be seen coming up as Plumette, the feather duster, in Walt Disney Pictures’ live-action Beauty and the Beast. That film will hit March 17, 2017 with Star Wars: Episode VIII arriving just over two months later on May 26. If this casting rumor pans out, 2017 is shaping up to be a very good year for Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Very little is known about the eighth “Saga” chapter of the hugely successful sci-fi fantasy franchise other than that Johnson is attached to both write and direct and that Del Toro is confident he’ll appear as the villain. The film will be produced by Ram Bergman and Kathleen Kennedy and will follow both J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens as well as the franchise’s first “anthology” film, director Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
What do you think about Gugu Mbatha-Raw potentially joining the Star Wars: Episode VIII cast? What sort of character do you think she might play? Let us know in the comments below!
