The filmmakers have done a pretty good job in casting the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy and anthology films. Not only did they manage to lure back all the major stars from the Original Trilogy, they also struck gold by casting talented folk like Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Kelly Marie Tran, Gwendoline Christie, Emilia Clarke, and Laura Dern just to name a few.
But the filmmakers missed out on a golden casting opportunity when they inexplicably said no to the greatest actress of our generation: Emma Thompson.
(No disrespect to Meryl Streep. Totally love her to bits, but Emma is just fantastic.)
The Oscar-winning actress spilled the beans on being snubbed for Star Wars during her WIRED Autocomplete interview with Mindy Kaling. She revealed that she’s a big Star Wars fan and her agent got in touch with the producers who were putting together the Sequel Trilogy or one of the anthology films.
But rather than immediately say yes and praying to the heavens for their luck in getting Emma bloody Thompson to be in their Star Wars movie, they just said “nah”. Seriously, who says no to Emma Thompson, especially when she expressed interest in being in your little movie?
(The part where she tells the story comes in at about the 1:22 mark.)
Not dismissing the people who were ultimately cast in whatever film Emma was interested in because everyone has been great, but that’s a golden opportunity missed right there.
As good as they are, the Sequel trilogy and anthology films aren’t exactly flawless but not casting Emma Thompson in them has been the biggest flaw to come out so far.