Director  J.J. Abrams has a monumental task ahead of him in reviving the Star Wars franchise and continuing the saga where it left off with Episode VI - Return of the Jedi 30 yeas ago. Part of the challenge in launching a new trilogy with Episode VII is finding the right actors who will take on the roles of future geek entertainment icons.

With Star Wars: Episode VII shooting early next year for its unannounced 2015 release date, Abrams, Disney and Lucasfilm are in the process of auditioning everyone you can possibly think of for the new characters. And "everyone" is an apt word according to Saoirse Ronan, who recently confirmed that she herself, tested for a part in Star Wars: Episode VII.

Disney seems keen on Ronan as she was also listed as the ideal candidate to play new female character Scarlet Witch in Marvel's The Avengers: Age of Ultron, a role that has since unofficially gone to Elizabeth Olsen, according to Star Wars prequel trilogy actor Samuel L. Jackson.

In a podcast with Empire, Ronan spoke again about her audition, and offers a few details on what part she could have been testing for.

"Yeah, I did [audition for Star Wars Episode VII]… I don't know whether I should have said that now! I mean, everyone did. Everyone has auditioned for it. So many people I know have gone in for the part I've gone in for, and guys who've gone in for a particular part, so I'd imagine J.J. is probably just scanning the earth to find the people that he needs."

"But nobody has a clue what it's about, and nobody’s read the script. So I've gone in and read for it, but I have to say, I think it's the only time I've ever thought, 'You know what? Even if I don't get it, I had so much fun auditioning, pretending to take out a lightsaber – out of a bag, kind of inspect it and not know what it is. That was… that was great. A lightsaber! Star Wars!"

Some of the actors we're heard going in to audition for Star Wars include Alex Pettyfer, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Oyelowo, Michael B. Jordan, Sullivan Stapleton, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Liam McIntyre, Ksenia Solo, Rachel Hurd-Wood, even Zac Efron and Ryan Gosling.

As for this particular role, in a scene involving a lightsaber, but not knowing what it is...

Could Ronan be in the running to play the rumored daughter of Han (Harrison Ford) and Leia Solo (Carrie Fisher)? The lightsaber would be a hint that the character could share scenes with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) at a Jedi training facility or could be looking through Skywalker's old things. That is, if the film follows and of the extended universe fiction from the many Star Wars novels that released after the film.

For all we know, the lines they're reading may have nothing to do with the actual Episode 7 script, something Abrams will be extremely secretive of, like most of his productions.

Can you see Saoirse Ronan as a young Jedi (or Sith) in training?

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Star Wars: Episode VII is tentatively slated to reach theaters by Summer 2015, though it could wind up delayed until the Winter Holiday Season.

Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes.

Source: Empire