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After months of speculations, the stars of Star Wars: Episode VII have finally been revealed. Joining original franchise stars Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker are John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson and Max von Sydow.
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J.J. Abrams will helm the new film, which is set 30 years after the events in 1983’s Return of the Jedi.
While some of the names, such as Boyega and Isaac, had been circulating as possible stars, others, like newcomer Ridley, are complete surprises. Learn more about the new cast of Star Wars: Episode VII below:
John Boyega
Boyega had a breakout role as Moses in 2011’s sci-fi pic Attack the Block, directed by Joe Cornish. The 22-year-old Brit, whose other film credits include Half of a Yellow Sun (which also starred Chiwetel Ejiofor), will next appear in the limited TV series 24: Live Another Day. He’s repped by CAA and Management 360.
Photos: Meet the ‘Star Wars: Episode VII’ Cast
Daisy Ridley
Ridley is a newcomer whose past credits mostly comprise TV appearances and short films. The British actress appeared on the British TV shows Mr. Selfridge and Silent Witness. She’s repped by Jonathan Arun Ltd. in the U.K.
Adam Driver
Driver, who will play a villain, has garnered much praise and attention over the past two years for his breakout role as Lena Dunham‘s volatile boyfriend on HBO’s Girls. The 30-year-old actor also had a memorable part in the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis. Driver took a unique path to acting: After serving in Iraq and being discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps, he enrolled at the University of Indianapolis for a year before transferring to Juilliard. He appeared in 2011’s J. Edgar, and has had TV roles on Law & Order and The Unusuals. He’s repped by The Gersh Agency.
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Oscar Isaac
Isaac broke out as the titular lead in the Coen brothers’ 2013 film Inside Llewyn Davis, playing a struggling musician in 1960s New York. Born in Guatemala and raised in Florida, Isaac graduated from Juilliard, where he studied drama. The actor’s early work includes Robin Hood, Sucker Punch and W.E. He then played Carey Mulligan‘s husband in Nicolas Winding Refn‘s dark film Drive. Repped by UTA and Inspire Entertainment, Isaac has wrapped work on J.C. Chandor‘s upcoming A Most Violent Year and has two other films in the can: sci-fi drama Ex Machina and thriller Mojave, co-starring Mark Wahlberg.
Andy Serkis
Serkis is best known for his motion capture work in some of the biggest films from the past few years. He created the role of ring-hungry Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and plays intelligent ape Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the upcoming Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Serkis, 50, earned a Golden Globe nom for playing a serial killer on the British telefilm Longford. The CAA-repped actor, who directed the second unit on the first Hobbit film, is attached to direct Warner Bros.’ upcoming Jungle Book film.
STORY: ‘Star Wars: Episode VII’ Cast Revealed
Domhnall Gleeson
The Irishman is the son of actor Brendan Gleeson and starred, alongside his father, as Bill Weasley in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows parts one and two. Repped by Paradigm, he’ll appear in Angelina Jolie‘s upcoming directorial project Unbroken. Also a stage actor, Gleeson earned a Tony Award nomination in 2006 for his role in Broadway’s The Lieutenant of Inishmore.
Max von Sydow
Veteran actor Max von Sydow has been working since 1949, starring in dozens of films throughout his career, including Through a Glass Darkly, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Emigrants, The Exorcist and Three Days of the Condor. He worked with Ingmar Bergman on 11 films, the first being The Seventh Seal in 1957. The 85-year-old actor’s more recent work includes The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Robin Hood and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, for which he was nominated for a best supporting actor.
Email: Rebecca.Ford@THR.com
Twitter: @Beccamford
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