It’s a good time to be a Star Wars fan. Disney and Lucasfilm have joined forces to give the fans a new and exciting Star Wars Universe to root for. The Mandalorian Season 1 and Season 2 have already received rave reviews. The next show in line will be the Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi series. And if rumors are to be trusted, then the show has already reached the stages of pre-production. Casting Details regarding the show have emerged. They reveal the show will have a ‘BIPOC’ co-lead and 3 all new supporting characters.
The total number of new roles in question is four. It includes a female BIPOC co-lead star whose characters details are yet to be made public. Information regarding the three other supporting characters are also scarce. What we know so far is that all three of the four characters are going to be women. The BIPOC co-lead is named Riley and the character is a woman. Of the remaining three, Tia will be a female BIPOC, Harold will be a male and a source of comic relief, and last but not the least Bella will be a woman in her late 40’s and Latinx by origin. Apart from Bella, the rest of the three characters will fall under the age group of early twenties to late thirties.
Since it is Disney that is bankrolling the project, we can rest assured that the show will have a diversified group of characters. According to The Illuminerdi, the project has already invited three actresses for the roles. The actresses who have reportedly received call-backs from the project are – Naomi Scott, Thuso Mbedu, and Anula Navlekar.
Naomi Scott is the most well-known face amongst the trio. She has already appeared in high profile movies like Aladdin and Charlie’s Angels. She is probably being roped in to play the co-lead. Thuso Mbedu is a South-African actress who won an Emmy for her role in Is’thunzi. She is set to appear in Amazon Prime’s The Underground Railroad. Anula Navlekar is a new face in the industry. She recently graduated from Yale School of Drama.
Initial production for the Disney Plus Obi-Wan Kenobi series was set to begin production in March 2021. The six episode series will begin production in the UK rather than Los Angeles as originally planned. Deborah Chow, who has worked in shows like Better Call Saul and The Mandalorian, will be directing the show.
