Star Wars 7 Actors

We learned a lot about the new Star Wars 7 actors back in early April, but there's only so much that that article has covered. While you will probably find a lot more information on Wikipedia or IMDB about these actors, I am sure that this page will digest enough information to satisfy your needs and curiosity. So, let us meet the Star Wars 7 actors - both the old and the new!

These are the names of the actors covered on this page (in order of appearance in the text): Mark Hamil, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Andy Serkis, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson and Daisy Ridley.

The Seasoned Veterans of the Original Trilogy

Mark Hamil

I find it only fitting to begin this list with Mark Richard Hamil who will be revising his role of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars Episode 7. As you probably know Mark was already an established actor before his role in "Star Wars A New Hope" (1977). The thing that really boosted here career back in the day was his debut on "The Bill Cospy Show" (1969), but in recent years he hasn't been much active as an movie actor. In fact, his most recent roles include voice acting roles for animated series and videos games. Most notable we feel are his voice-overs in Adventure Time, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated. When it comes to video games he did an amazing job in 2011 as the voice of the famous villain Joker in Batman: Arkham City.

Carrie Fisher

Next up is Carrie Frances Fisher who played princess Leia in the original trilogy. She was born in 1956 in Baverly Hills, Los Angeles. As an actress she didn't have too many famous roles before she became part of the Star Wars universe. In recent years you may have heard her voice in hit TV series Family Guy or seen her appearance in TV shows such as Entourage and The Big Band Theory.

 It will be interesting to see her perfomance in the new movie as she is now not just princess Leia, but also the sister of Jedi master Skywalker and the wife of Han Solo. In the expanded universe she is the mother of Jaina and Jacen Solo who will master the ways of the Force with the help of their uncle Luke. You can read more details about the siblings here and since Abrams won't be using the expanded universe in the story of Star Wars 7 it is very possible that these characters won't be included in the upcoming movie.

Harrison Ford

Finally, we complete the trio with Harrison Ford who is probably the most famous actor on this list. The man who played Han Solo was born on July 13, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. He had a lot of roles prior to becoming part of Star Wars and he remains very productive as an actor to this day. His first role an actor came in 1966 in the movie "Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round" but he was uncredited for this role. After that he played in a lot popular TV series such as "The Virginian", "Ironside", "Mod Squad" and "The FBI".

In recent years he you had a chance to see him as Indiana Jones in "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", as Colonel Graff in 2013s "Ender's Game" as well as Mack Tannen in "Anchorman 2". Currently he is also filming the movie "The Age of Adaline" and soon he will revisit his iconic role of Indiana Jones in fifth installment of this franchise.

Next up we also have the return of our favorite robot duo: Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) and Kenny Baker (R2-D2). They have confirmed the return to their roles a long time ago, but it was made official in late April by Disney and JJ Abrams when they announced the other actors as well.

The legendary duo

So, let us begin with Anthony Daniels shall we? The English actor wasn't that well-known before Star Wars and this is really what kick-started his career and gave his marvelous voice "a chance to shine". He's been the iconic voice of C3PO in many animated series, TV shows, video games and cartoon shorts. You've also probably had the chance to see him a couple of times on the Discovery Channel. Much of the same can be said about Kenny Baker although he made more appearances in non-Star Wars-related shows than Anthony. It will be great to see the duo back as their interactions really gave a lot of humor to the movies.

Peter Mayhew

Finally, we finish our list of seasoned veterans with Peter Mayhew who played the role of Chewbacca in the original trilogy. This was his first role as an actor and after the Star Wars series ended he didn't have any significant roles. He appeared a few times in popular shows such as Glee and the Late Show with David Letterman in his iconic Chewbacca outfit. The fact that he is in Star Wars 7 is clear proof that Abrams and Disney will not be following the expanded universe canon as Chewbacca died during the Yuuzhan Vong War which took place 25 years after the Battle of Yavin.

New Actors in Star Wars 7 (The "New Hopes")

Let us begin by just simply listing them first:

• Andy Serkis
• John Boyega
• Oscar Isaac
• Adam Driver
• Domhnall Gleeson
• Daisy Ridley

As of 6th of July, these two ladies also joined the crew:

• Lupita Nyong'o
• Gwendoline Christie

Read the full scope about these two ladies here!

Now some of these names should be very familiar from other movies, yet there some people who were completly uknown up until this point. We'll talk about all of these new actors one by one in the order they are written on the list.

So, that means we should start with Andy Serkis who is (for me) the most unusual person on this page, yet I am glad he is here nonetheless. For those of you who don't know the name I'll tell you right away what Andy's most famous role was: he played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He was also the voice actor for this character in various video games that the franchise has produced over the years. He's was also one of the voice actors in the animated movie The Adventures of Tintin, and he will also be part of the upcoming sequel. Overall, here is a great professional and welcome addition to the Star Wars Episode VII crew.

This is how they filmed LoTR BTW!

Now for some really fresh blood! John Boyega is an aspiring 22-year-old actor from England whose professional acting career has started in 2011. You can check his IMDB page for a full list of roles that he's been credited for if you are interested. However, most of these have just been minor roles and his acting in SW7 might just be the career boost he needs to make it big. His role in the new movie isn't known, but it is very likely that he will be around for the entire new trilogy.

John Boyega

Oscar Isaac is also a familiar name, although I must say I haven't seen the movies where he had most screen time. But his a professional who has been in the industry since 2002 and Star Wars is the biggest movies in his career so far. His biggest role however, is probably his role in "Inside Llewyn Davis" (2013) where he played the main character Llewyn Davis. This movie was very well accepted by the public and the critics alike, so we are very glad to have Oscar on the Star Wars 7 actors list!

His most notable movie credits in the past years also include the movies "Drive", "Sucker Punch" and "Robin Hood (2010)". A recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter revealed that Oscar is a huge Star Wars fan and that the movies were a major part of his childhood. He collected toys, ships models, posters and threw Jedi-themed parties for his friends. This alone makes him an awesome guy in my book and I hope he'll play the role of a lifetime!

Oscar was born in  Guatemala in 1980

So, next up is Adam Driver, who you may have heard of if you are a bit younger. I say this because he is a young actor himself and one of his most notable roles was in 2012s TV show "Girls" where his character appeared in 27 (out of 32) episodes so far. Aside from this you may have seen him in the movie "Lincoln" where he played the role of Samuel Beckwith.

But what's really interesting (and sort of cool) is that he was also in the movie "Inside Llewyn Davis" which means that he has worked with Oscar Isaac in the past. It is great when actors already know each other before the filming begins so this is a pretty good mark for Adam. 

Rumors suggest that he will be playing the role of Han and Leia Solo's son, but this probably won't be confirmed before the movie actually comes out as Disney will avoid all spoilers and leaks.

Adam Driver

And now we get to a very interesting actor on this list, I am of course talking about Bill Weasley Domhnall Glesson. He is a brilliant young actor who has much to offer and we will, hopefully, get to see his full potential in the new Star Wars trilogy. His role in Star Wars Episode 7 is still unknown, but we are betting that he may very well play as the son of Han and Leia Solo or, on the other hand, the role of Luke Skywalker's son. This is just speculation of course, but as he is fairly young it is very likely this will indeed be his role.

So, what notable roles has he had so far? Well, he has been in a fair bit of good movies over the years, but mostly a supporting character. In recent years he's notable roles include the role of Tim in "About Time" where he played a leading role. You also had a chance to see him in "True Grit", "Judge Dredd" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows". He also played the role of Levin in "Anna Karenina" since this is one of the characters I liked in the books it was very interesting to see his interpretation of it. Sadly, this movie had little to do with the source material, but that's okay I guess.

Domhnall Glesson

Finally we will finish our list for now with Daisy Ridley, the most mysterious person on this list. So far she only played a few minor roles in a couple of TV shows and nobody really knew about this lovely girl until Abrams told the world about the actress. I'd be willing to bet that she'll play the role of Han and Leia Solo's daughter in the upcoming movie, but we don't really know anything for sure at the moment.