Star Wars Episode 7 Cast Announced

The official cast of 'Star Wars: Episode 7' has finally been announced on the official Star Wars website.

The announcement reads as follows...

"Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film."

Director J.J. Abrams says, "We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud."

Along with the cast list, the first photo of the assembled cast has been released, see if you can spot R2-D2 lurking at the back.

'Star Wars: Episode VII' will hit cinemas worldwide 18 December, 2015.

Who are the new faces in the 'Star Wars' cast?

John Boyega

Peckham-born Boyega, 22, is most famous for playing Moses in ‘Attack the Block’ – which was amazingly his first film role since leaving drama school. He also showed up in ‘Law and Order: UK’, Ngeria-set drama ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ and TV movies ‘Da Brick and ‘My Murder’. In short, this is a huge opportunity for this virtually unknown British actor.

Daisy Ridley

Another British actor who is totally unknown. She doesn’t even have her own Wikipedia page. Her CV’s made up of TV work, including casualty (of course), ‘Mr. Selfridge’ and ‘Silent Witness’. She’ll also appear in the ‘Inbetweeners’ sequel according to her agent, is apparently highly skilled at swimming, jazz singing and tap, and plays ages between 16-20.

Adam Driver

This was not a surprise, as trade magazine Variety reported that the ‘Girls’ actor, 30,  was in talks for a role earlier this year. Currently starring in Mia Wasikowska drama ‘Tracks’, he’s a rising star wih roles in the upcoming Midnight Special and Martin Scorsese’s ‘Silence’ rumoured.  He’ll play a villain “in the vein of Darth Vader”.

Domhnall Gleeson

Domhnall is one of the more recognisable newcomers to the ‘Star Wars’ universe. He played Bill Weasley in the ‘Harry Potter’ series, and took the lead role opposite Rachel McAdams in Richard Curtis rom-com ‘About Time’, last year. The 30-year-old has also had supporting parts in ‘True Gritt’, ‘Dredd’, and ’Anna Kerenina’. He’s also the son of the brilliant Irish actor Brendan Gleeson, which is nice.

Max von Sydow

Swedish acting vet Max is the stuff of movie legends, having starred in landmark  Ingmar Bergman movie ‘The Seventh Seal’ back in 1957 - in which he plays chess with Death. Fluent in eight languages, Max’s career spans seven decades, and includes over 150 credits – including recognisable roles in ’The Exorcist’, ‘Minority Report’ and ‘Robin Hood’.

Oscar Isaac

34-year-old American actor Oscar Isaac recently earned rave reviews as a downtrodden folk singer in the Coen brothers’ ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’. However, he’s best known for playing villainous roles in films such as ‘Drive’, ‘Robin Hood’, and ‘Sucker Punch’.

Andy Serkis

British actor Andy Serkis is best-known for his performance capture roles, a technology he helped pioneer thanks to playing Gollum in Peter Jackson’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Hobbit’ films. He now owns a performance capture studio in London, and will next be seen as ape leader Caesar in ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’.

They join in the cast 'Star Wars' regulars Harrison Ford - Han Solo, Carrie Fisher - Princess Leia, Mark Hamill - Luke Skywalker, Anthony Daniels - C3PO, Peter Mayhew - Chewbacca and Kenny Baker - R2D2.