Jonathan Rhys Meyers Denies Those Star Wars: Episode VII Rumors
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While it’s been quiet on the Star Wars: Episode VII front lately, actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers wants to dispel any rumors that he will appear in the much-anticipated new movie. Rhys Meyers co-starred in Abrams’ feature directorial debut, 2006’s Mission: Impossible III, so it would seem fitting that the 36-year-old actor might re-team with his director. But alas, he says the rumors are simply that.
“I don’t believe rumors,” said the Irish actor and model when Entertainment Weekly asked about the possible collaboration with Abrams. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is not usually in big summer blockbusters, so it would take a lot for him to join the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. In fact, the only blockbuster he has starred in was the aforementioned Mission: Impossible III. You’d think if anyone could lure him into a summer tent-pole situation, it would be J.J. Abrams.
Back in May, Latino Review was reporting a rumor that Disney and Lucasfilm were looking at Jonathan Rhys Meyers for a possible role in the new Star Wars film. While the news outlet didn’t specify who Meyers might play in Episode VII, Meyers himself points out the fact that the always seems to play the villain in movies. “I play bad guys because I look like one,” he says. “There’s something in my physicality that’s quite intense and lends me to being feral. I mean, I’d love to be this lovely relaxed guy doing rom-coms, but I just don’t get those types of offers. I suppose I’m forever sort of the antihero.”
Jonathan Rhys Meyers is best known for his leading role as King Henry VIII in Showtime’s The Tudors, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor in 2008. He co-starred with Scarlett Johansson in Woody Allen’s Match Point in 2005, and he also co-starred with Star Wars alumnus Ewan McGregor in Todd Haynes’ Velvet Goldmine in 1998.
Assuming Episode VII starts production at the beginning of 2014 (as rumors would suggest), then it shouldn’t be too long before we start hearing who will be filling out the cast. At the moment, no one is officially cast, but there are plenty of rumored actors, including Alex Pettyfer, Rachel Hurd-Wood, and even Benedict Cumberbatch as the new Star Wars villain. Even prequel stars McGregor and Ian McDiarmid are rumored to reprise their roles as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Emperor Palpatine, only in Force ghost form. And, of course, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher are almost certainly a lock, even though their involvement still hasn’t been made official yet.
In fact, the only confirmed participants in the new Star Wars film are Michael Arndt as the film’s writer, Dan Mindel as the film’s cinematographer, and J.J. Abrams as the director. There are no plot details available, but it’s believed that the movie’s full title might be Star Wars: Episode VII – A New Dawn, and it’s rumored to follow Han Solo and Princess Leia’s children as they learn to be new Jedi Knights. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy will produce the film.
Star Wars: Episode VII will hit theaters everywhere sometime in 2015.
