Earlier this week, we caught wind of the actresses in contention for the lead female role in Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars spinoff. a list that comprised Felicity Jones, Tatiana Maslany and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo starlet, Rooney Mara. Now, a report by Variety is suggesting that the latter’s older sibling, Kate Mara, has crept onto the shortlist, a role that would see her reunite with her Fantastic Four screenwriter, Simon Kinberg.
This latest tidbit comes by way of Justin Kroll, who revealed via Twitter that Kate Mara is testing for the coveted role along with the aforementioned trio of actresses.
Twitter scoop following @Borys_Kit STAR WARS testing story from yesterday, hearing the fourth girl who tested is Rooney’s sister, Kate Mara
— Justin Kroll (@krolljvar) January 21, 2015
Scheduled to release in 2016, pundits have claimed that Edward’s adjacent adventure would involve a group of bounty hunters that consider themselves up for the task of stealing blueprints for the first Death Star before it is even built. What makes this concept so interesting is the fact that the mercenaries are allegedly recruited by the Rebel Alliance to complete the job, setting up a very villain-centric premise not too dissimilar to Warner Bros.’ Suicide Squad.
Having collaborated with Edwards for close to a year, screenwriter Gary Whitta recently departed the galactic project, and though his replacement is yet to be announced at the time of writing, it seems likely that Simon Kinberg — who is currently assisting Josh Trank on his own Star Wars spinoff — will shepherd the 2016 project closer to the proverbial finish line.
It’s worth keeping in mind that this remains speculation at this stage, though given her rise to prominence in such a short space of time, don’t be too surprised if Kate Mara bags the headline role in Edwards’ Star Wars movie.