Star Wars Fangirl Flail: Lupita Nyong’o and Gwendoline Christie Join the Cast of Episode VII

BREAKING: Lupita Nyong’o & Gwendoline Christie have joined the cast of #StarWarsVII! http://t.co/4O4O4l1CDU pic.twitter.com/C9fQJWV0WY

— Star Wars (@starwars) June 2, 2014

From Lucasfilm:

Lupita Nyong’o joins the recently announced cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. This year, her breakthrough performance in 12 Years a Slave earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Gwendoline Christie, currently starring in the hit television series Game of Thrones as Brienne of Tarth, has also been cast in the production. She can next be seen in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. “I could not be more excited about Lupita and Gwendoline joining the cast of Episode VII,” says Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. “It’s thrilling to see this extraordinarily talented ensemble taking shape.”

Source: Star Wars Twitter.

These news just made my day and I just had to make a second post for today on the blog! These are amazing news, especially as the lack of female cast members was pointed out by many (which I believe was a very important thing as to make our concerns heard) when the first ensemble cast picture was released a few weeks ago. Not only do we get two more actresses joining the cast – beside Carrie Fisher reprising her emblematic role of Leia Organa and newcomer Daisy Ridley, but they bring diversity to the cast beyond the slight but significant rearranging of the gender balance.

While Lupita Nyong’o is an obvious and wonderful face of diversity, Gwendoline Christie also participates to diversity in my view. She is another white face in the cast, but she transcends Hollywood feminine stereotypes.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, back to fangirl flailing!