Tatiana Maslany, Gina Rodriguez, & Olivia Cooke Joins Star Wars 8 Shortlist

It looks as though ‘Star Wars 8’ casting is kicking up a notch… as three young actresses find themselves linked to the new female lead in the upcoming ‘Star Wars’ sequel.

According to The Wrap, ‘Star Wars 8’ casting has seen several young females up for a leading role… and that includes former ‘Rogue One’ hopeful, Tatiana Maslany.

“Golden Globe winner Gina Rodriguez, Golden Globe nominee Tatiana Maslany and ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ star Olivia Cooke are considered the top contenders for the new female lead in Rian Johnson‘s ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’.”

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Tatiana Maslany is perhaps best known for ‘Orphan Black’ – a Canadian sci-fi TV show about the moral and ethical implications of human cloning. But she’s also been linked to the ‘Star Wars’ universe before, rumoured to be in the running for ‘Star Wars: Rogue One’.

Gina Rodriguez recently made waves in ‘Jane the Virgin’ – an American comedy-drama which follows a young woman who becomes pregnant after accidentally being artificially inseminated.

Olivia Cooke currently stars as Emma Decody in the American TV show, ‘Bates Motel’ which depicts the lives of the iconic screen killer Norman Bates prior to the classic Hitchcock film, ‘Psycho’.

“Insiders insist it’s early in the casting process and that Johnson is still auditioning actresses, with several rising stars yet to read for him. Others suggest that Johnson is narrowing down the field and that Rodriguez, Maslany and Cooke will be among a group of girls slated to chemistry-read with ‘The Force Awakens’ star John Boyega before the end of the month.”

Unfortunately, there are no further details on what this mystery role might be… but after hints of a chemistry read with John Boyega, there’s already speculation that this could turn out to be a love interest for the lightsaber-wielding Finn.

But where does that leave Daisy Ridley’s Rey?

For now, that remains unclear… and with ‘Star Wars 7’ still not in cinemas, we might have a bit of a wait before we find out how it all pans out.

‘Star Wars 8’ heads to cinemas on 26 May 2017.

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Picture Credit: BBC America, The CW, Lucasfilm, Universal Television