12 YEARS A SLAVE Actress Rumored To Be Joining STAR WARS EPISODE VII

Winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress is a prestigious accomplishment, but Luptia Nyong’o may soon be in for a bigger moment: going to a galaxy far, far, away. Latin Review is reporting that the 12 Years a Slave actress is close to signing on to Star Wars Episode VII. The part she’s reading for is a “major female role and doesn’t seem to be tied into the family lines from Episodes 4-6.” The writer also speculates that Nyong’o might be playing a Sith.

Aside from Original Trilogy stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, no other actors have officially been announced for the film yet by the studio. Girls actor Adam Driver was reported to be finalizing a deal last month to play a villain, and five actors have also been looked at recently for the main role.

I have yet to see 12 Years a Slave (it’s on my watch list, believe me!), but considering the critical praise she won for that role, she’d be a welcome addition to the Star Wars franchise. As far as her role goes, I hope she is playing a villain. Ignoring that the Star Wars movies only have a few memorable female characters, there’s never been a female villain within the movies. The Expanded Universe has given us a few like Asajj Ventress and Mara Jade (who eventually reformed), but I want to see a female antagonist show up on the silver screen screen.

We’ve gotten our fair share of male Sith Lords and apprentices, but it would be a welcome change of pace to see a female dark side user going up against the new generation of Star Wars heroes. Perhaps she’ll be the apprentice to the new main Sith baddie, whether it’s Driver’s character, a revived Emperor Palpatine or someone we haven’t learned about yet. Either way, how cool would it to see Nyongo’s character in an epic lightsaber fight with the new protagonists? I’d watch that on repeat on YouTube every single day!

SOURCE: Latino Review