Lucas Sets Record Straight

Reports featured in the press this week (but not, we hasten to add, on Empire Online) about new character casting for Episode II have been dismissed as 'completely false' by Lynne Hale Director of Communications at Lucasfilm. The story, which originated with Variety, suggested that George Lucas intended to introduce a number of new characters in Episode II to offset the criticism of racist casting that followed the release of The Phantom Menace. 'The diversity of actors who have appeared in Star Wars...were chosen for the talent they brought to their roles - not because they were Swedish, Ghanaian, Indian, or Brazilian.' says Hale, in a feature on the official site www.starwars.com. 'The Star Wars movies have always been populated with a rich cast of characters that make up this fantasy world.' Hale goes on to say that the only casting that is currently being undertaken is for the role of Anakin. 'George is still working on the script for Episode II so at the moment Robin Gurland [Casting Director] is only casting for Anakin. Thus far, Robin has seen 700 tapes and submissions and met with 300 candidates. She does not have a short list yet and is still exploring many possibilities.'