Star Wars casts Lupita Nyong’o

The “Galaxy far, far away” has nabbed its very first Oscar-winner with today’s announcement that 12 Years A Slave star and Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o will appear in next year’s still-untitled seventh episode of the Star Wars saga.

Also announced today was the addition of towering Game of Thrones actress Gwendoline Christie to the growing cast that includes the original films’ stars Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, alongside John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Andy Serkis and Oscar Isaac.

Natalie Portman, who played the mother of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in episodes 1, 2, and 3, earned an Academy Award five years after her Star Wars run ended for her stunning lead role in 2010’s Black Swan, but this is the first time Star Wars has cast an Oscar winning actress, and just three months after she was handed the golden trophy.

The 31-year-old actress of Kenyan descent wowed critics (including this one), with her portrayal of a tortured slave and the object of her master’s vile affections in the Louisiana-shot historical drama. Who she will play in the saga created by George Lucas in the 1970s and handed over to Disney in a massive sale of Lucasfilm recently, is still very much under wraps, though some first set photos did leak to TMZ earlier today, I’m sure much to secretive director J.J. Abrams’ chagrin.

Given her 12 Years performance, as well as the amazing acceptance speech (“All of your dreams are valid.”) at the Oscars, it is difficult to picture Nyong’o in a villainous role. Her expressive face would be a shame to hide under a ton of makeup or prosthetics for an alien appearance, so I would hope she is playing a human heroine. I can see her being a mystical young Jedi training under Master Skywalker.

Watch Nyong’o’s acceptance speech below: