From Alec Guinness to Emilia Clarke, the Star Wars galaxy has always had a high population of British people, and that goes especially for the villains. And seeing how Richard E. Grant has developed a reputation for playing screen baddies, it’s only logical that fans have continuously predicted much the same from the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Grant added fuel to the speculation when he recalled the scene he was asked to read when he auditioned for next year’s trilogy closer:
“I got sent a 10-page generic sort of, I think, it was an interrogation scene clearly from a 1940s British B picture because the references were not Star Wars and the language was something that my grandfather would have spoken in and I thought, you know, the three contrasting scenes that you were supposed to show as much versatility you could muster in a self-taping situation.”
While Grant didn’t go into any further details, it doesn’t seem too unreasonable that fans are taking this interrogation material as evidence that he’ll be playing a threatening figure in J.J. Abrams’ next film.
In any case, the story continues with Grant sending off his audition video, and when he was invited to see Abrams at Pinewood Studios, the actor wasn’t entirely sure what to expect:
“J.J. was sitting with Daisy Ridley and said, ‘Hey! Great. Come in. So you’re gonna do it?’ and I said, ‘Do what?’
And at this point the room went upside-down and I’m sure he was telling me in detail what part I was playing and what the character is called. I have no memory of that whatsoever. I just kept thinking: I might be in Star Wars. I kept waiting for them to say, ‘Well you’re going to come in and stand in for somebody else because we need somebody to test your height or your age or whatever.’”
Based on John Boyega’s recent recollection of when he was first told he’d been cast in The Force Awakens, it sounds like Abrams really loves springing this news on his cast in person.
Though Grant was presumably filled in on the details of his character once he’d calmed down, he’s remaining as tight-lipped as the rest of the Lucasfilm team about what he learned, but at least he’s having fun giving nothing away. In a recent interview with Yahoo!, for example, the star was all too happy to explain both his role and the plot of the movie, but only by mouthing the words silently.
In this latest interview, however, Grant may have let slip a little more info than he intended, but all will be revealed when Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters on December 20th, 2019.