A Page From Star Wars: Episode VII, The Audition Script Comes Out, And Matt Smith May Be Up For A Part
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Here’s your daily dose of random news as it pertains to J.J. Abrams’ impending Star Wars: Episode VII. Two of these three tidbits revolve around the scripts, and thankfully only one involves casting rumors, but it’s a doozy, and it ties into Doctor Who, which is an added bonus.
English actor Jason Flemyng is apparently up for a part in Episode VII—okay, this in itself is a something of a casting rumor, but not the one I was talking about earlier—and shared a photo of a page of the script with the world. The image has since been taken down from his Instagram account (Bleeding Cool was able to track it down), but as we all know, the Internet is forever and nothing ever truly goes away. The photo shows a red page with black writing, as well as a beer—he was drinking Stella Artois at this particular time.
Aside from the fact that Flemyng, best known for roles in the likes of Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and X-Men: First Class, could be involved in the Star Wars universe, this tells us nothing. There’s a filter on, Instagram photos aren’t exactly renowned for their crystalline quality in the first place, and unless you have a very large magnifying glass, you can’t make out a damn word.
News bit number two involves those open auditions for Episode VII we heard about a little bit ago. The call sheet included young characters named Rachel and Thomas, and while we don’t know much about them, these lines may shed a little light on the subject. Check them out for yourself:
Rachel labors to bear Thomas’s weight as they inch their way down a deserted road, blood dripping from his leg.
He’s trying to stomach an apple.
THOMAS (kidding): Can’t you go any faster?
RACHEL: Shut up and eat your apple.
He enjoyed that, but every step is sheer agony on the leg.
RACHEL: There’s a barn a little farther up the road…
A big barn, dark and damp. Rachel covers the floor with hay, then lays out her sleeping bag. Thomas looks through her backpack for anything he can use as a bandage.
RACHEL: You need rest.
She lowers him down – which puts her face mere inches from his open wound. She cringes without meaning to.
THOMAS: Sorry. I know it’s –
RACHEL: It’s fine. I’m just not a big fan of blood.
THOMAS: You know, for such a tough girl, you’re kind of squeamish.
RACHEL: Your fever’s still up. And we have to get some more food in you.
THOMAS: I’m not hungry.
RACHEL: It wasn’t a request.
She sits down next to him and takes out a loaf of bread.
THOMAS: Rachel, thanks for coming to get me.
RACHEL: Family has to stick together, right?
She starts to rise. He grabs her hand, dead serious.
THOMAS: Listen, if I don’t make it –
RACHEL: Sssshh.
THOMAS: But if I don’t…
Before he can finish, she drops down next to him and looks him dead in the eye.
RACHEL: You’re not going to die. I forbid it. Okay?
THOMAS: Okay.
RACHEL: Get some sleep.
THOMAS: What about you?
RACHEL: I will. In a bit.
Are Thomas and Rachel lovers, or siblings maybe? Whatever their relationship, in this scene they’re on the run from someone, and Thomas is seriously wounded. If no one said the words Star and Wars in reference to these lines, there’s nothing even remotely sci-fi about them. In fact, this sounds more like a horror film about two young kids running away from an axe/machete/chainsaw wielding madman in the middle of the woods.
This doesn’t actually tell us anything about the movie, either, and odds are, this isn’t actually from the movie anyway. But maybe it does give us a look at the dynamics between the two characters, whatever their names turn out to be.
And finally we get to the casting rumor, again, aside from that bit about Flemyng. Bleeding Cool reports that Matt Smith, who plays the eleventh incarnation of the Time Lord in BBC’s long-running sci-fi adventure Doctor Who, met with behind the scenes players about a potential role in the upcoming films. There’s nothing beyond that, but damn, wouldn’t it be cool to see a collision of worlds between two of the genres venerable franchises?
Smith is primarily known for his portrayal of a silly, two-hearted alien from Gallifrey, but he’ll soon play the lead in Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, the dark fantasy How To Catch A Monster. As we all know, these casting rumors come on fast and disappear just as quickly, so who knows if this will actually amount to anything, but couldn’t you imagine Smith playing some weird, rubber-faced alien?
