Latest Star Wars Rumor: Breaking Bad’s Jesse Plemons Is Up For A Lead Role In Episode VII
This article is more than 2 years old
We know you’ve just been sitting there, twiddling your thumbs, starring at your computer, thinking to yourself, “You know, Internet, it’s been a while since you’ve given me a good, unsubstantiated Star Wars rumor.” Well ask and ye shall receive. Jesse Plemons, who some of you might know as Todd from AMC’s popular meth-based drama Breaking Bad, has reportedly been called back to audition again for what is being called a lead role in Star Wars: Episode VII. That’s really all there is too this story at the moment, but that isn’t going to stop us from talking more about this possible development.
Disney and Lucasfilm have no official comment, of course, but according to The Wrap and their sources that are clued in on such matters, Plemons is scheduled to meet with Abrams sometime next week. The 25-year old Battleship actor already has one taped audition under his belt, hence the earlier use of the word again again, but will score a little face time with director J.J. Abrams.
Multiple sources substantiated the news that Plemons is up for one of the main roles, and now we can move on to the ever-important business of trying to figure out who the hell he’s going to play. The most obvious choice, and one that is being volleyed about with reckless abandon—it seriously makes up like 90% of my Twitter feed right now—is that he might play Luke Skywalker’s son. He definitely does have a certain Mark Hamill, blond-middle-America-farm-boy look going for him. And if that is ultimately the case, I don’t think any of us would be shocked. Then again, they could go in a completely different direction. Maybe he’s an evil new Sith lord out to exact revenge on those who destroyed the Empire. It’s all equally plausible at this juncture.
For only being 25, it feels like Plemons has been around for a long time. The Texas native has been in movies like Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master and critical TV fave Friday Night Lights, but he’s also done one-offs on serials like NCIS and Grey’s Anatomy. Hell, the first time I remember seeing him was as Paul Walker’s kid brother in Varsity Blues. So he’s got that going for him.
At this point in time we don’t know much about Episode VII. Abrams will direct the film from a script that he wrote, or is writing—hopefully it’s done by now—with Lawrence Kasdan. Theoretically the film is supposed to begin production this spring at Pinewood Studios in London. You hope that they’ll get the party started sooner rather than later, considering that the release date of December 18, 2015 isn’t all that far away in production terms. And that’s all we really know.
What would you think if Plemons winds up as one of key figures in Star Wars: Episode VII? Personally, I’ve always found him annoying, so the idea of spending an entire movie in his company sounds rather unpleasant. Let us know how you feel in the comments below, and as soon as we know more, you’ll know more.
