We don't know what the Star Wars standalone spin-off movie is, but we do know that Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) is directing it. Now we know that Oscar-nominee Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) is the female lead, and that Chris Weitz (About a Boy, The Golden Compass) is writing it.
The Hollywood Reporter notes that there was a very short shortlist for actress tests, and table reads. Jones beat out Rooney Mara and Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany for a role that only those in the room know what it is. Producers have a short list for the male lead, and THR notes that Aaron Paul and Edgar Ramirez are their targets (Jones, Mara, and Maslany all share a specific type of femme look: petite, brunette, hoydenish; Paul and Ramirez are very different types of actors and builds, but either would be an interesting choice for something that, again, we know nothing about).
Currently nominated for a Best Actress Oscar this year, Jones features on the upcoming Vanity Fair "Hollywood" issue (where most of the spread also shares a specific look), and has co-starring roles in two promising features: True Story, with Jonah Hill and James Franco, which debuted at Sundance (and is said to fill our obsessive post-Serial quest for answers), and A Monster Calls with Liam Neeson as a tree monster. After cutting her cute teeth with luminous turns in indie romances like Like Crazy and Breathe In, it now appears that Hollywood has taken notice of Jones. Deservedly so.
[via The Hollywood Reporter]
