Aaron Paul who is probably best known as your favorite (or second favorite) purveyor of blue meth performing as Luke Skywalker? Yep! You can see it for yourself as a part of Jason Reitman’s ongoing script live reading series where he collects assorted actors to do live readings of some classic and fan favorite films. It’s sort of like a brilliant fantasy film game where Jason Reitman casts his dream actors for iconic roles. So why would Aaron Paul make an ideal Luke Skywalker? Reitman explained, “The first thing I had to figure out was who is going to be the voice of Luke. My first instinct was, ‘Who is the actor most like Mark Hamill today?’ But five minutes into that, I’m thinking we already have that, we already have Star Wars as it is. What’s the opposite of that? Jesse from Breaking Bad questions authority in a much different way than Luke Skywalker does. He growls at it, and his annoyance at his journey will be unique from the traditional boy-to-man transition.”
Who else will round out the cast in Reitman’s live reading of Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back? While we still don’t know who will be playing Princess Leia or Han Solo, Jason Reitman has announced only some of the people who will be portraying your favorite Star Wars characters at this Thursday’s reading. (What I really want to know is who will be playing Jabba the Hutt.) So far, he’s tapped J.K. Simmons (who you’ll remember from Juno, Whiplash and every other Reitman picture) to play Darth Vader. Jason Reitman reveals why he thought J.K. was perfect for the Darth Vader live reading, “He has to be able to be fatherly and evil simultaneously, and no one has explored that idea more than J.K. Simmons in Whiplash. Darth Vader is someone who has it within him to cut his own sons hand off, but not send his son to his death.”
Excited about checking out The Empire Strikes Back live reading? Unfortunately it’s sold out but the next installment in the live read series should be a good one. Jason Reitman has cast and staged live reads for American Beauty, Ghostbusters, and the Princess Bride among others as a part of his unique take on beloved films. This isn’t the only exciting news for Star Wars fans. Word on George Lucas’ thoughts about the new Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, was revealed last week and you can see what George Lucas had to say about it here.