First Hermione was cast as Belle in the new live-action Beauty and the Beast earlier this week. Now, Tatiana Maslany, the mind bogglingly talented actress of many faces/queen of the Clone Club, is reportedly joining Gareth Edwards‘ Star Wars spin-off? Is this real life? YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT. It’s basically Christmas in Rachel-Land, guys.
It’s been rumored that both Maslany, Rooney Mara, and recent Oscar nominee Felicity Jones were vying for the part, but The Mary Sue is reporting that Maslany has snagged the lead role. The Orphan Black actress also recently dropped out of a Broadway play due to scheduling conflicts, and our pals at The Mary Sue say their sources confirm the casting.
While we don’t know exactly what this spin-off is about yet, Disney CEO Bob Iger remarked in the latest Disney Shareholders report that “…next year we’ll release our first standalone movie based on [Star Wars: The Force Awaken‘s] characters, followed by Star Wars: Episode VIII in 2017, and we’ll finish this trilogy with Episode IX in 2019.” This might mean that Maslany’s character is somehow involved with the new folks –Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), or Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) — buuut it could also mean she’s connected to the old favorites: Luke, Leia, and Han. INTRIGUE.
We’ll keep you updated as more news becomes available, but for now let’s just have a big Clone Club style dance party with our Orphan Black playlists. Maslany is one of the sharpest, most intriguing young actors out there right now and to see her take on more and interesting roles (and hopefully wield a light saber or another Star Wars-y weapon of some sort) is a gift of the highest order.
What type of character(s) would you like to see Maslany play in the first Star Wars spin-off? Let us know in the comments below, and stay up do date with all the latest reports from a galaxy far, far away on our very own Nerdist News!
HT: The Mary Sue, Slashfilm
She plays 11 characters in one show. She plays one character interacting with another. She plays one character pretending to be another. She switches accents, swaps walks and sexual orientations. I think the best use of such talent, besides a colony of clones, would be a shape-shifter infiltrator.
PS. If you flip her over and check you’ll notice that she is an ACTRESS and not an ACTOR.
Graham – most people in the biz just say “Actor”, regardless of gender…No such thing as a “doctor-ess” or “teacher-ess”.
Hopefully multiple parts twins? Power sisters, telepathically connected, queen of the universe with awesome fighting and defense capabilities and maybe a bisexual with seductive powers! b/c she has seduced all of us with how great of an actor she is! Bravo Tatmas!
She can play Yoda for all I care! I’m always happy that someone with acting talent is cast in a recent Star Wars movie!
hellooo…..
So glad someone with talent beat out no-talent Rooney.
All the characters in the spin-off haha.