Star Wars Prequel Actor Shortlist Revealed

The shortlist for actors for the upcoming Star Wars prequel based on Han Solo has been revealed.

Disney and Lucasfilm saw reportedly thousands of audition tapes and headshots from actors, ranging from ages as young as 16 to as old as 34. An exclusive source reported to Variety that there are about a dozen actors who are on the shortlist for the untitled Han Solo prequel.

Shooting for the film doesn’t begin until next January.  The same source notes that the producers are trying to cast the actor in the next few weeks, as he might have a short cameo in the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Several of the shortlisted actors are Miles Teller (28), Dave Franco (30), Ansel Elgort (21), Scott Eastwood (29), Emory Cohen (25), Logan Lerman (23), and Blake Jenner (23).

You may or may not have seen or heard of some of these actors before. Miles Teller was Reed Richards in this past fall’s Fantastic Four, and can also be seen in Whiplash. He will star in three films in 2016: Bleed for this, Arms and the Dudes, and The Divergent Series: Allegiant.

Elgort will also be in Allegiant, and is Augustus in The Fault of Our Stars.

Scott Eastwood, son of Clint Eastwood, is in the upcoming Suicide Squad film and is in The Longest Ride.  He will also be in Snowden and Overdrive this year.

Logan Lerman is Percy Jackson in the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series, and stars in Fury and Perks of Being a Wallflower. He will be in Indignation later this year.

Emory Cohen most recently starred in the critically acclaimed Brooklyn, and appears in six films this year, including War Machine and Hot Summer Nights.

Blake Jenner won the second season of The Glee Project and appeared as Ryder Flynn on seasons four and five of  Glee. He will appear in Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some, due out this year.

Dave Franco, the younger brother of James Franco, starred in 21 Jump Street, Now You See Me, and Unfinished Business. He will appear in Now You See Me: The Second Act, Neighbors 2, and Nerve, all due out later this year.

What’s interesting is how old some of these actors are. In two years, Franco and Eastwood will be older than Harrison Ford was when the first Star Wars debuted. In fact, almost all of the actors will be relatively close to 31, Ford’s age at the beginning of A New Hope, by the time the film actually debuts. Further, if the actor is rumored to have a  This may indicate that the film will not have a sequel, and it’ll connect Rogue One to A New Hope, explaining how Solo ended up on Tatooine.

Personally, I’m really pulling for Lerman and Elgort. I really like Logan Lerman as an actor, and I’ve found him very charming in the several interviews I’ve seen with him in it. I think Fury and Perks of Being a Wallflower are forgettable films without him. I also like the look of Elgort, as he’s tall and lanky, and I think he would be a good match for Disney and Lucasfilm.

What do you think of the shortlist? Happy? Angry? Let us know (politely) in the comments below!