There are plenty of generic summer jobs: waiting tables, telemarketing, babysitting, dog walking and dressing up in embarrassing costumes to promote a nearby fast food restaurant, to name just a few examples. Some lucky UK residents, however, will spend this summer getting paid to hang out on the set of Star Wars: Episode VII with the recently announced cast of old familiars and new faces.
Earlier this year, Disney held open casting sessions across the UK and Ireland to find the young leads for Star Wars: Episode VII, apparently preferring to create its own stars rather than hand-pick from a list of already-famous celebrities. The principal cast now includes newcomers John Boyega (Attack the Block) and Daisy Ridley (Silent Witness) as the franchise's young heroes, with stage actor Maisie Richardson-Sellers tipped to play another lead female role.
The new trilogy will need more than just a few main players to bring the universe to life, however, and Movie Casting Call claims that Disney is now seeking extras of multiple different types to take part on filming between May and September 2014. The four categories being sought are young adults aged 16-22 (note that this was also the specified age range for the movie's leads); general extras of all ages 16 and up; characterful, memorable or unusual-looking men and women; and "salty sea dogs" (navy/fisherman/sailor types).
[UPDATE 1: Some Star Wars fans are claiming that the casting call on Movie Casting Call may be fake. Casting Collective is an established agency so it can be assumed that the listings on that site are real, but we'll seek further confirmation that they're definitely for Star Wars.]
[UPDATE 2: Casting Collective has now confirmed that none of the listings currently on the site are for Star Wars. Original article follows.]
Filming will take place in London, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire over the summer, and you can apply for a role over at Casting Call Collective by selecting the relevant listing. Unfortunately for non-British fans who'd be willing to make a long trip for the sake of being in a Star Wars movie, all applicants must be legally eligible to work in the UK and submit a passport or work visa along with their headshots.
The call for "salty sea dogs" is almost certainly using the sea as a euphemism for space, which would indicate scenes that takes place in a spaceport like Mos Eisley. In fact, based on the recent confirmation that Star Wars: Episode VII will take place partially on Tatooine, this casting call may well be specifically designed to find the new denizens of Mos Eisley.
It's also worth noting, however, that extras casting for Pan - a movie that would most certainly call for "salty sea dogs" in its background talent - is also taking place at the moment. There is already a casting call for Pan on Casting Collective that specifically names the film, whereas all the entries that are allegedly for Star Wars: Episode VII only mention that the project is a "major feature film." We'll seek further confirmation as to whether the extras being sought are space pirates or just the regular sort.
Star Wars fans recently celebrated the pun-tastic geek holiday that is Star Wars Day (warning: today is Revenge of the Fifth - keep an eye out for evildoing), so director J.J. Abrams and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan celebrated along with them by recording a "video selfie" that promised casting announcements will continue as production ramps up. We'll keep you updated on further news as the cast list continues to grow.
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Star Wars: Episode VII is out in theaters on December 18, 2015.
Source: Movie Casting Call (via Collider)