According to Total Geeks, Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany has landed the lead role in the first Star Wars spinoff. The Canadian actress was linked to the part last week when her name appeared on a shortlist along with Rooney Mara and Felicity Jones.
The rumor has since been corroborated by The Mary Sue, whose sources also confirmed she has bagged the coveted part after impressing folks at Disney and Lucasfilm.
The fact that Maslany recently dropped out of a pivotal role in Neil LaBute’s forthcoming off-Broadway play over “scheduling differences” lends further weight to the speculation.
No word yet on who she’ll be playing, but her phenomenal performance(s) in Orphan Black suggests we’re in for a treat.
Currently in development, the as-yet untitled standalone flick will be directed by Godzilla’s Gareth Edwards. It made the headlines earlier this week when news broke that About A Boy writer-director Chris Weitz had joined the project to hone the script. He replaces previous scribe Gary Whitta who exited the film after working on its screenplay for a year.
The Star Wars spinoff lands in theaters on December 16, 2016.
