Matt Smith has been cast in a key role in the next Star Wars film, according to reports.
The former Doctor Who actor has been linked to Star Wars: Episode IX, the US entertainment magazine Variety has reported. Details of his role are not yet known.
Directed by JJ Abrams, the film will complete the sequel trilogy, after The Force Awakens in 2015 and The Last Jedi in 2017. Returning cast members include Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong’o and Mark Hamill. Billy Dee Williams will reprise the role of Lando Calrissian, while footage of the late Carrie Fisher, unused in The Force Awakens, will be repurposed to revive Princess Leia.
Smith’s big-screen career has been less successful than his TV work, for which he was nominated for an Emmy award for his role as the Duke of Edinburgh in the Netflix series The Crown. He made his debut in 2008’s In Bruges, but his scene was deleted. A role in 2015’s Terminator Genisys was expected to have been followed by appearances in two sequels, but they were cancelled. Smith’s forthcoming film, Charlie Says, in which he plays the American cult leader Charles Manson, will premiere at the Venice film festival on Sunday.
Star Wars: Episode IX will be released on 20 December 2019.
