Tatiana Maslany Is A Contender For Star Wars: Episode VIII

Director Rian Johnson is still in the middle of the auditioning process for Star Wars: Episode VIII. Bear in mind then that none of the following people actually has a job yet and that this is one of those vaguely annoying "casting shortlist" non-stories. But should you be interested in some possible contenders for an as-yet unknown character (or characters), reports this morning are that Gina Rodriguez, Tatiana Maslany and Olivia Cooke all have appointments for a "chemistry read" with John Boyega. Sources are referring to the role in question as the "female lead", although you'd have thought Episode VIII already had that in Daisy Ridley. So this is possibly another female lead or some sort of secondary role. Of the three names, Orphan Black's Maslany is intriguing, since she reportedly previously just missed out on the Rogue One role that went to Felicity Jones. Maybe the second time's the charm here. Rodriguez, meanwhile, won a Golden Globe for her work as The CW's Jane The Virgin, and is about to co-star in Peter Berg's Deepwater Horizon with Mark Wahlberg. And Cooke is a Bates Motel regular and was just in Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's excellent Me And Earl And The Dying Girl. The Wrap's sources suggest she's also on another shortlist for Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One, along with Elle Fanning and Lola Kirke. Johnson is writing and directing the second of the new Star Wars trilogy films, and Benicio Del Toro has been the subject of some other, villain-centric casting speculation. Episode VIII is scheduled to start shooting early next year ready for a May 6, 2017 release date.