Actor Jesse Plemons is reportedly being considered for one of the lead roles in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII, according to a report from The Wrap. The 25-year old actor is said to have impressed the casting team so much in his first, taped audition that he has been asked to come in to audition for director J.J. Abrams next week.
Multiple sources speaking to The Wrap further confirmed the news that Plemons is now a front-runner for one of the lead roles, although it could not confirm exactly what that role might be. Due to the actor’s age and appearance, The Wrap (and many others on the Internet) have speculated that Plemons is in the running for the role of Luke Skywalker’s son. It isn’t clear how Skywalker’s son would be portrayed in the new trilogy, but Plemons recently showed that he could certainly handle a darker role during his guest stint on Breaking Bad.
Plemon’s first role was in the 1998 film Finding North, then the following year he gained attention for his appearance in Varsity Blues. In 2006, he was cast as all around nice guy Landry Clarke in the TV version of Friday Night Lights, and most recently appeared as meth dealer Todd Alquist in the final season of Breaking Bad. His film credits also include Battleship and The Master.
So far neither Disney nor Lucasfilms have announced any official casting news, although it is assumed that Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford have all signed on. As for the other roles, there are very few people in Hollywood that have not been at least mentioned in passing in connection with the new Star Wars films.
