Beyond the Lights and Jupiter Ascending star Gugu Mbatha-Raw was the latest actress recently rumored for a leading role in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VIII project from Disney and Lucasfilm, directed by Rian Johnson. However, new rumors have linked Diary of a Teenage Girl starlet Bel Powley to the same role. These aren't the only stars linked to the sequel to The Force Awakens, but with a 2017 release date set, we're definitely getting closer to confirmed casting news.
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This rumor is based on a few degrees of separation, claiming that a leading lady will join the cast, most likely as the love interest of Finn (John Boyega). This trend of casting leading ladies in the Star Wars franchise is pretty refreshing, though we're sure that men's rights activists will be mad about this news.
We should also mention that Orphan Black lead Tatiana Maslany, Jane the Virgin's Gina Rodriguez and Bates Motel star Olivia Cooke were named on an alleged leading actress shortlist for Episode VIII. It sounds like Powley is either joining these actresses on the list or has beaten them out for the role. There could be more than one female lead in the film though.
Since this is all speculation, we're not ready to rule out any of the actresses just yet, but Slash Film reports that Mbatha-Raw has allegedly dropped out of landing the role.
Episode VIII does not have an official title just yet, but we're sure more information will be released in 2016. This film is set to hit theaters on May 26th, 2017. That's when we'll know for sure which actress is part of the cast!
