UK Casting For Two Key Roles In Episode VII May Start This Week

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The BBC reports (via Club Jade) that "open auditions" for Star Wars Episode VII are scheduled to begin in London, Dublin, Glasgow, and other locations across the United Kingdom "later this week." They spotted a casting call for two lead roles in "a Walt Disney Pictures film" courtesy of a new Twitter account, @UKopencall, which appears to belong to casting assistant Claire Curry. Although the casting call is notably bereft of the phrase "Star Wars," the BBC is independently reporting this as an Episode VII audition announcement.

Check out the casting call below for the dates and times when casting will take place in each city.

The two lead roles are "Rachel," a "street smart and strong" seventeen-year-old orphan," and "Thomas," a "smart," "capable," and courageous young man who grew up "without a fathers [sic] influence." I put the names in quotes because, if this is for Star Wars, they are almost certainly code names.

Lucasfilm did not respond to the BBC's request for comment. That could be an indication that the casting call is real, although I will say that it's not unheard of for Lucasfilm to refuse to comment on a matter that later turned out to be nothing.

More recently today, Bleeding Cool checked in with their own report. They confirm that casting agent "Nina Gold and Disney will be holding a series of new Star Wars open casting sessions in cities across the UK ... for the lead role and a key supporting role in Episode VII."

Bleeding Cool's Brendon Connelly also reports that, according to his sources, there are no radical script revisions following Michael Arndt's departure. "[T]he same story – at least as much as it might boil down to a synopsis – will still be in play; the same characters are being sought as several months ago."

"Abrams and Kasdan appear to be reworking the flow a little," Connelly says, "but the building blocks of story are staying pretty much untouched."

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Related Stories:

As Episode VII Open Casting Begins In Bristol, The Media Is There
Lucasfilm Confirms Open Casting For Star Wars Episode VII
Rumored Episode VII Casting Call Appears Headed For The U.S.
David Prowse Has Advice For Star Wars Episode VII Audition-Goers
Star Wars Producer Gary Kurtz Discusses Episode VII Open Auditions

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