Maisie Richardson-Sellers: The Force Awakens’ Worst Kept Secret?

Maisie 02

With the Episode VII rumor mill cranked up to full speed now that principal photography has officially concluded and the first teaser has been released, we thought it might be fun to take a look at what currently appears to be the movie’s worst-kept secret – the casting of Maisie Richardson-Sellers.

 

One of the more persistent casting rumors for The Force Awakens throughout most of 2014 has been that Oxford-trained stage actress Maisie Richardson-Sellers, will be playing a role in the film. She has not yet been officially confirmed – and yet, unlike most of the other performers rumored early on to have been involved in the production, Richardson-Sellers continues to be referenced in rumors and speculation, including a Tweet posted as recently as yesterday. So, if she is indeed part of the Episode VII cast, why the delay in announcing her?

 

Rumors of her having landed a role in TFA go back to at least the beginning of April of this year, when we first reported that the virtually unknown actress was among those rumored to be part of the cast.

 

Unknown Oxford Actress Rumored for a Role in Star Wars: Episode 7

 

“Speculation is swirling like the mists of Dagobah around newcomer Maisie Richardson-Sellers. Several sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that she is in line to nab an undisclosed and possibly major role in the high-profile Disney/Lucasfilm production, which is in the middle of an extended casting search in London in advance of a May production start date.”

Maisie 03

Since then, a host of actors and actresses rumored (in some cases very heavily so) to have been cast in The Force Awakens have turned out not to have actually been given roles in the film after all. Maisie Richardson-Sellers, on the other hand, has not yet been ruled out.

 

She was specifically mentioned in a Tweet made this past June by Abe Gurko, Carrie Fisher’s assistant. The Tweet, which has since been deleted, read:

“Loving my #StarWarsEpisodeVII girls: @carrieffisher, @ridley_daisy, #BillieLourd, #MaisieRichardsonSellers“

 

There was even speculation (both here on Episode VII News and elsewhere online) that she was the actress pictured reading the TFA script in one of Bad Robot’s characteristically cryptic Tweets back in mid-April. This Tweet has also been deleted since then:

 

Episode-7-script21

If the girl in the photo is indeed Maisie, this could possibly mean that her character is not a minor one. Or it could mean nothing at all. Actually she is the only TFA cast member teased in a Bad Robot Tweet. Some people have expressed their doubts that it’s Maisie in the photo but looking at the next image, there seem to be some definite similarities in the hair and fingernail styles between the two photos:

 

Maisie 04

 

Also it’s worth mentioning that Maisie’s name is listed on TFA IMDb page. Of course, IMDB information cannot be taken as absolute fact, since anyone can edit it. Still, her name has been sitting on that list for some months now. There have been several occasions in the past when rumored actors were added to the cast list by fans, and then later removed.

 

Screenshot

 

Online reports regarding The Force Awakens also continue to reference Richardson-Sellers as part of the cast, although most of these are likely basing their information on the same rumors listed above. Not all of them, however. Most recently, a Tweet from this past week by Patty Adams Martinez, a freelance editor from New York, not only claimed inside knowledge that Richardson-Sellers was indeed cast in TFA, but also seemed to contain an oblique reference to the earlier rumors that the actress might play a descendant of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

 

 


We aren’t lending much credence to the rumors that Maisie’s character might be a descendant of Obi-Wan. Actually, although the rumor came from “The Hollywood Reporter,” always a credible source, we ran an article back in May in which we examined why the idea of Obi Wan having offspring doesn’t make much sense. You can check out our old article about this rumor HERE.

 

So, while there is a lot of old news being rounded up here, we are not just trying to invent hot water with this article. We’re genuinely curious. I’m sure that many of you have no doubts that Maisie Richardson-Sellers is indeed part of the cast of The Force Awakens. We are pretty sure that she’s playing a role in the film too, possibly as a minor character like those being played by Christina Chong and Billie Lourd. It’s interesting, though, that we have some confirmation on Chong and Lourd being in the film, yet not Richardson-Sellers.  Is her role just that small? Or is there maybe more to her involvement than meets the eye? Who knows? (If you’re someone who does, please let us know…)

 

+ posts

65 thoughts on “Maisie Richardson-Sellers: The Force Awakens’ Worst Kept Secret?

  • December 10, 2014 at 8:40 pm
    Permalink

    “descendant of Obi-Wan Kenobi”

    PLEASE NO.

    • December 10, 2014 at 8:54 pm
      Permalink

      I’m right with you on this one, and I have reason to strongly suspect that the “Obi Wan’s descendant” rumor is bunk.

    • December 10, 2014 at 9:01 pm
      Permalink

      I strongly disagree. Why is it wrong for Obi Wan to have found him a lady. He watched everyone he ever knew get killed by his former padawan/best friend. Let him find a little happiness for christ sake.

      • December 10, 2014 at 9:20 pm
        Permalink

        The problem with that is, we’re getting perilously close to “It’s A Small Galaxy After All” territory if everyone in the ST ends up being somehow related to somebody from the OT or the PT.

        Personally, given all of the souvenirs Obi Wan had on the wall of his home in ANH, I think it’s safe to say that he had some adventures between Episodes 3 and 4.

        And given the fact that the Jedi are no more as of the end of Episode 3, and he tells Luke that he was ONCE a Jedi Knight, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to assume that he probably didn’t consider himself bound to the celibacy clause of the old Jedi Code once he was living on Tatooine.

        I just think they need to avoid tying too many of the new characters to older characters. We’re already presumably dealing with descendants of the Skywalker line – IMHO, that ought to be enough of a link to the past.

        • December 10, 2014 at 9:28 pm
          Permalink

          I see your point but the idea of a Kenobi in Episode 7 is immensely exciting to me. It would be a cool way to come full circle to watch Luke train her.

        • December 10, 2014 at 9:40 pm
          Permalink

          Mostly only by rumor, though. Who knows how many instances will be true. And we can’t say much about how much sense relationships between descendants of the “main three” until we know what has happened with those three over the years.

          But even descendants of other characters would not necessarily be ridiculous. They obviously had parents whom, in many cases, shared a story. It’s not the same kind of preposterousness as suggesting that everyone happened to play a role *previously*, as happened with R2, 3PO, Chewie, Fett et al. in the PT.

          • December 10, 2014 at 10:09 pm
            Permalink

            No, it’s not quite that bad, but still… the “small world” thing was done to death and back again in the PT. My personal preference is for the ST to open itself up to a much wider world and mainly bring in new characters with no direct tie to the events of the previous films.

            We already have Han, Luke, Leia, Chewie and the droids, at least for this first movie. And I bet we have at least one or two new characters who are related to them. To me, this is a fine way of linking the new with the old. As the story moves forward, though, I’d rather see completely new and unrelated characters enter the story and really expand the horizons of the whole thing.

          • December 10, 2014 at 10:12 pm
            Permalink

            She is playing a twilek… no worries.

          • December 11, 2014 at 1:54 am
            Permalink

            It may very well just be obi wan approved the same as skywalker or yoda approved, vetc, in other words, just star wars approved. Thats wat i get from that. “Obi wan approved” would be a weird way to say ahes a daughter or something. I think it just means “starwars approved”….but im just sum dude :p

        • December 11, 2014 at 5:59 pm
          Permalink

          “The problem with that is, we’re getting perilously close to “It’s A Small Galaxy After All” territory if everyone in the ST ends up being somehow related to somebody from the OT or the PT.”

          The thing is it’s not the galaxy that is small but that we are seeing it through a narrow focus centred around these characters particularly the Skywalker clan and their friends and enemies.

          There are tons of other stories but these are the ones the audience is most familiar and attached to.

  • December 10, 2014 at 8:47 pm
    Permalink

    Ahsoka Tano maybe??

    • December 10, 2014 at 9:50 pm
      Permalink

      Wouldn’t she be like 95???

      • December 11, 2014 at 11:03 am
        Permalink

        And Togruta age at what rate, exactly?

  • December 10, 2014 at 8:47 pm
    Permalink

    She will play Landos daughter. Remember he said he wish he had a daughter that was beautiful and a Jedi ? then lots of backlash as not enough females in the movie.Then she comes on and she looks like him,same skin tone etc.Great casting thou as i can’t wait to see her talk to Lando in VIII, after she have a small part in VII.That will grow in VIII

    • December 11, 2014 at 3:07 am
      Permalink

      Leia and Lando’s love child… thats why Han and Leia are pissed at each other.. oiiishhhii!!!!

  • December 10, 2014 at 8:52 pm
    Permalink

    Disregarding any other reason why one might not want her to be Obi-Wan’s descendant, the fact is that The Clone Wars established (into canon) Obi-Wan’s love for the Dutchess Satine of Mandalore. The way they were never allowed to be together because of their roles and how they served, and then because of [SPOILERS] makes it quite the tragic tale, and I think is an interesting layer to Obi-Wan’s character that we rarely get to see (consider how major of a character her is, there’s relatively little development for him, even throughout all of Clone Wars). Suggesting this certainly makes things complicated.

    • December 10, 2014 at 9:01 pm
      Permalink

      I hope it’s true. After all Obi-Wan should have been able to dip his light saber in a hot chick after all that exhile action on Tatooine.

    • December 11, 2014 at 2:56 am
      Permalink

      Another reason why Clone Wars series are not in my personal Star Wars canon. 🙂

  • December 10, 2014 at 8:52 pm
    Permalink

    I’m going to see a sneak preview of the Hobbit tonight. Is it too far fetched to hope for a Star Wars trailer attached?

    • December 10, 2014 at 8:56 pm
      Permalink

      May the Force be with you

    • December 10, 2014 at 8:59 pm
      Permalink

      At this point, I’d say nothing is too far-fetched. I’d be very surprised if the teaser doesn’t end up running with The Hobbit when it premieres next week (and probably other films as well), so who knows… maybe you’ll get a big-screen peek at it tonight.

      Have fun, and let us know if they run the teaser for you!

      • December 11, 2014 at 2:58 am
        Permalink

        Hobbit premiere is right now here in Prague…I´m just too uninterested to go, after seing Desolation of Smaug…

  • December 10, 2014 at 8:55 pm
    Permalink

    Leia and Lando’s daughter. Landeia. Married to Chewbacca. What?!? She likes older men…who can rip people’s arms out of their sockets. She is the pilot of the Carousel…an identical yet slightly smaller version of the Millenium Falcon. Because you know that makes so much fucking sense.

  • December 10, 2014 at 8:58 pm
    Permalink

    My god she is hot. Oh and cool rumors and all that other stuff. 🙂

  • December 10, 2014 at 9:00 pm
    Permalink

    Didn’t someone on 4CHAN reveal the casting calls for a young orphan girl?

    Anyone remember the call list of actors ?

  • December 10, 2014 at 9:10 pm
    Permalink

    I wonder if, (as Leia has been reported as the leader of the Republic/Rebellion,) she is some type of handmaiden or assistant to Leia.

  • December 10, 2014 at 9:37 pm
    Permalink

    The exciting “thing” is this new movies will have lots of characters, lots of actors to talk about, lots of situations to follow…from Star Wars universo. More castings, more rumors, more teasers in years to come.
    Hey people, we will see at least more than five SW movies. I don’t know you but i’m really excited.(one of those moments i can’t control myself;)

    • December 11, 2014 at 2:28 pm
      Permalink

      It does look like there will be a massive amount of characters to follow in the ST… It’ll be like Star Wars: Game of Thrones. The idea of so many characters is exciting. I’m just trying to figure out the logistics of sitting on a lightsaber throne. 🙂

  • December 10, 2014 at 9:47 pm
    Permalink

    Maybe she is not in SW7 but in the star wars spin-off movie.

  • December 10, 2014 at 9:57 pm
    Permalink

    Think you meant “principal” photography. Unless you’re implying any photography from this point is without scruples.

    • December 10, 2014 at 10:11 pm
      Permalink

      D’OH!!

      (Where’s that confounded “edit” button…)

  • December 10, 2014 at 10:30 pm
    Permalink

    She is playing currently the reincarnation of Rebekah Mikaelson in the Originals on the CW.

  • December 10, 2014 at 10:35 pm
    Permalink

    OOLA!

  • December 10, 2014 at 10:48 pm
    Permalink

    LMFAO everyone GEEZE lets just wait to see the movie you funny AzZ lovers…. how many peeps doubted Disney could handle it ? How many doubted JJ ? How many doubted Fords leg ?… LMFAO lets just wait for the movie before we all pull out our Neon Alpha Beta Cuma Orange Yellow Golden Purple Black Green Blue White Silver Pink Yabba Dabba Doo….. She might turb out better than you think… So FK off about the whites and blacks. We LOVE, not sWaLlOw….. : )

  • December 10, 2014 at 10:49 pm
    Permalink

    YOU. SHALL. NOT. PASS.

  • December 10, 2014 at 11:55 pm
    Permalink

    Perhaps a relative of Kenobi, not a direct descendant. Fairly certain obi-wan had siblings in the old EU, don’t remember if that was canonized in TCW or not. Personnally I would like to see her as a descendant of Ventress and Voss, if that sort of cross-species breeding is possible. I think she looks reminiscent of both.

  • December 11, 2014 at 12:01 am
    Permalink

    This comment below is copied from a user in the SWE7News article “Speculation: Is Obi-Wan’s Grandchild In Star Wars: Episode 7?” Sunday, May 18, 2014 Posted by Echo-07. It is a really good comment and shows that Kenobi could have had a child. I bring this comment forward from May 18, 2014 again from this Anon because he is right. Please read.

    From: Anonymous May 18, 2014 at 18:37 PM

    “Kenobi having a child illustrates that his beliefs in the Jedi Order were not strong, that he was just as prone to falling to the Dark Side as Anakin and that he was just as likely to form and hold onto attachments.”(SWE7News article “Speculation: Is Obi-Wan’s Grandchild In Star Wars: Episode 7?” Sunday, May 18, 2014. Posted by Echo-07)

    That is not Law of Non-attachment is supposed to work. At least not in accordance to Far Eastern spiritual philosophies, such as the different branches of Buddhism (Theravada, Tibetan and Zen Buddhism). And it is widely known that Lucas was heavily inspired by Buddhism for SW (words like Yoda, Dagobah, Anakin and Padmé all have their origins in Sanskrit; some of them even being sacred Buddhist terms).

    Attachment does lead to suffering. Because as these philosophies explain, everything is destined to perish. And so the day you lose someone you hold dear, you suffer. It’s that simple.

    Doesn’t mean you automatically have give into your deepest, darkest feelings, though (or in other words, that you will inevitably fall to the Dark Side). Furthermore, the Jedi didn’t forbid attachment only because it could lead to the Dark Side due to the suffering that you experience when someone close to you dies.

    Like any other Order of Knights in real life (the Templars, indeed) or in fantasy (see the King’s Guard or the Night’s Watch in A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones), members had to take vows of poverty, celibacy, etc. The idea here was that they would be totally devoted to their calling, their brethren and, in the case of spiritually-oriented Knights (aka, the Templars) to their beliefs.

    Hence, by breaking this Law, you lose your focus, which in this case should be to help protect and preserve peace and justice throughout the galaxy. Your loyalties became mixed and confused, as was the case with Anakin, who clearly ended up more devoted to his secret wife than to the Jedi Order and its precepts.

    Attachment also provided potential targets that your enemies could use against you (see Christopher Nolan’s Batman, who uses this very reason to justify his becoming a masked vigilante). This is because attachment does lead to suffering, as Yoda wisely put it, in case you lose folk you hold dear, especially as the result of your activities as a warrior/knight.

    In short, Lucas’ decision to have the Jedi forbidding attachment as part of their Code is not as simple as many folk would like to believe. It’s much deeper than that and since it makes sense from a historical perspective in our real world, I fail to see why that wouldn’t be the case in the SW galaxy, as well.

    • December 11, 2014 at 12:29 am
      Permalink

      The Jedi Order is dead and buried in Star Wars and Obi-Wan knew that. Hell, Force Ghost Qui-Gon is the only company he has out in his desert shithole…and I’m guessing Qui-Gon is telling him to pack it in and go get laid.

      After all – if Obi-Wan wasn’t spending all his time training up Luke – the acknowledged last, best hope for the Jedi Order – he clearly didn’t give a shit about being a Jedi anymore.

      • December 11, 2014 at 2:22 am
        Permalink

        Seeing as how “old” Ben was maybe 40 years old when he went into exile on Tatooine, it seems that there was still plenty of time for him to finally let loose and have a fling when he was on one of the off-world adventures that he clearly had over the next 20 years.

  • December 11, 2014 at 12:34 am
    Permalink

    i’d give her one. a film role that is. if i were a director, that is.

  • December 11, 2014 at 1:03 am
    Permalink

    I also noticed Carrie Fischer’s daughter was added to IMDB… I don’t think it was there before, right?

  • December 11, 2014 at 1:35 am
    Permalink

    Lupita, Maisie, and Crystal Clarke. It’s great to see women of color casted.

    I was looking through the full cast and crew on imdb and i’ve noticed that Bill Corso is listed as Harrison Ford’s make up artist. Bill follows Lupita on instagram as well.

    • December 11, 2014 at 2:59 am
      Permalink

      How do you know they’re ‘right for the role’ if you don’t even know who they’re playing? I’d say the casting directors would know better than you at this point. Maybe you’re jumping the gun a bit there to defend your bigotry?

    • December 11, 2014 at 6:08 am
      Permalink

      Why is it considered diversity trapping if they add a few black people to the mix? It’s not exactly anything new to sci fi… I mean c’mon. Star Trek of multiple varieties & even Star Wars OT & PT had diverse casts.

      I frankly think it’s great that Boyega is a lead… not because He’s black… but because I can tell he will be great for the part. Just even the teaser left me with the impression that his acting is on par… it’s quite different from what we saw in “attack the block”… where he was too cool for school to be scared. In the Teaser he really did look scared. A++

  • December 11, 2014 at 2:58 am
    Permalink

    So, here’s what I’ve got to add: In several “spoiler” posts circulating on Reddit (most of which I don’t really believe) there’s mention of ‘Sella’s Barge’ being one of the ships involved in Episode VII. Richardson-Sellers is listed as “Korr Sella” on the IMDB page… elaborate hoax or?

    But I also just find it weird that Bad Robot would let her character listing go after possibly leaking that she’s in the movie.

  • December 11, 2014 at 3:08 am
    Permalink

    Han’s pissed – Leia and Lando’s love child!

  • December 11, 2014 at 3:45 am
    Permalink

    Why does everyone say it’s Lando’s daughter? Because she’s black? What about that other black chic, the bald chic who won the Academy Award, is she Lando’s daughter too?

  • December 11, 2014 at 4:19 am
    Permalink

    It’s ok man. Nevermind. I can understand how difficult it must be for you.

  • December 11, 2014 at 5:29 am
    Permalink

    I think it is ridiculous that the Star Wars universe the new actors should only be descendents of Lando or Mace Windu .
    It is a huge imaginary universe after all.

    Coruscant,Yavin,Endor ,Hoth ..etc ,etc

    Why in the world should Lupita or Maisie be playing relatives of just two characters?

    They could be playing characters with different last names.

    Kor Sella could be just a pilot of her own ship and a mercenary or rebel maybe.

  • December 11, 2014 at 5:58 am
    Permalink

    Ms Sellers is gorgeous besides talented, one thing I did catch from this post, her pose is eerily similar to that of the mysterious leaked still of that female character earlier this year, the one that looked like a Sith Witch-Nightsister.

    • December 11, 2014 at 8:33 am
      Permalink

      nice

  • December 11, 2014 at 8:39 am
    Permalink

    GEEZE are we still yaking bout this shyt ? LMFAO !!! i honestly say that i myself, is really tired of Politically Correctness, and i get sick of Hollywood, etc shoving this shyt down our throats with this black/white issues , or even gay shyt on talk shows, music, even with fkn Disney… but right now i havent seen any of that in Star Wars yet… i just say lets give the movie a chance first, before eveyones got the bricks in their hands ready to throw… i really doubt if Disneys going to playa round and fk with Star Wars cause our fans are the most craziest ones out there… look at how many hits the trailer got ? lol no movies can match that… not even Star Trek… cause i believe Disney knows that if theycram Political Corectness in this shyt, many fans will destroy it big time just like the Death star got blown up.. twice..lol I have a feeling this movie will be just fine…. Lets Love… save the hate for the Politicians cause thats all they know hpow to do while they steal from us… : )

  • December 11, 2014 at 9:06 am
    Permalink

    A daughter of Obi-Wan would be in her mid-30s or older by the time of Episode 7. This woman looks like she’s in her 20s. But, OTOH, I guess that hasn’t been a problem before.

  • December 11, 2014 at 9:37 am
    Permalink

    Shouldn’t this article be re-titled “the best kept secret” because nobody knows who the hell she’s going to play?

  • December 11, 2014 at 11:50 am
    Permalink

    She looks nothing like Lando. She doesn’t even have a moustache.

  • December 11, 2014 at 6:26 pm
    Permalink

    Don’t understand why my post was deleted from yesterday unless I gave away a spoiler in it.

    Kor Sella owns Sella’s barge ship its obvious isn’t it lol

    She is a Corellian.

    • December 11, 2014 at 6:37 pm
      Permalink

      I didn’t delete the post about Sella’s barge, but FWIW, that does venture into spoiler territory. Just because you already know about it doesn’t mean that people who are avoiding spoilers know about it. It was, for instance, the first I’d heard of it.

      Whether or not that was why your post was deleted, though, I don’t know.

    • December 11, 2014 at 10:52 pm
      Permalink

      And if she owns something, that means she’s someone of importance, and wealth.

      Wealth inherited from a certain character who managed a ‘substantial’ operation.

  • December 11, 2014 at 7:22 pm
    Permalink

    Oops sorry about that .

    I should have listed spoiler in front.

    You can delete it if you want to so others can be spoiler free.

    • December 11, 2014 at 7:37 pm
      Permalink

      Naw. I don’t think it’s a huge deal, but let’s start trying to remember to be a bit more careful about spoilers. I have a feeling that from this point forward we’re going to start getting a lot more rumors that turn out to be genuine spoilers, so it’s probably best to make an effort to warn folks before you mention film details.

      Thanks! ;^)

      • December 11, 2014 at 10:55 pm
        Permalink

        With all due respect, isn’t that the point of this entire site,…..to find things out?

  • December 11, 2014 at 10:32 pm
    Permalink

    “So, if she is indeed part of the Episode VII cast, why the delay in announcing her?”

    Why the delay in announcing Any of the actors?

  • December 13, 2014 at 9:24 am
    Permalink

    She’s like 25. The sequels take place 30 years after Obi Wan died. Do the math.

Comments are closed.

LATEST POSTS ON MOVIE NEWS NET