As with any major release, the casting news is going start flowing. And few titles are as big as Star Wars Episode IX, so when Variety came out with the announcement that Keri Russell is in talks to joining the cast of the galactic film.
The film, which will be directed by The Force Awakens‘s J.J. Abrams, will have much of the same core cast from the previous two films. However, Abrams and Lucasfilm are looking to cast a female role, and after meeting with several actresses, it seems like talks with Russell were getting serious.
Fresh off the hit spy thriller The Americans, Russell is available for the production, which is set to begin at the end of July. The role is said to call for someone who can do heavy-action scenes, which Russell has done in several other projects, including Mission: Impossible III, which she did with Abrams. No word as to whether this role is rebel or First Order.
There are going to be a few more roles cast, though how major or minor they will be is yet to be seen. There’s already a lot riding on this film, since so many fans hated its predecessor, The Last Jedi.
Star Wars Episode IX is set to premiere on December 20, 2019.
