Star Wars Episode VII is cast

 Clockwise from J.J. at 12 O'Clock Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Producer Bryan Burk, Lucasfilm President and Producer Kathleen Kennedy, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Andy Serkis, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Adam Driver and Writer Lawrence Kasdan. Copyright and Photo Credit: David James.

Yesterday John Boyega and Daisy Ridley were almost completely unknown actors. If you have never saw the British crapfest "Attack the Block" or watched "Silent Witness" on TV recently, chances are you may never have ever seen them either. But thanks to yesterday's announcement from J.J. Abrams  / Lucasfilm / Disney, they are about to be catapulted into super stardom as they have landed two of the biggest acting gigs on the planet in the most famous movie franchise in history, as characters in Star Wars Episode VII alongside Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill.

Boyega and Ridley will join five individuals new to the saga who've had somewhat more exposure to the masses in varying degrees:

Brendan Gleeson's Dublin-born son Domhnall is cast and was apparently Bill Weasley in the final Harry Potter movies and appeared in Dredd and True Grit.

Oscar Isaac was in Sucker Punch and Drive, stared as Prince John in Robin Hood [2010] and more recently as Llewyn Davis, the title character of the latest Coen Brothers movie.

Former U.S. Marine turned actor Adam Driver appeared in biopics J. Edgar and Lincoln before ending up on Lena Dunham's turgid "Girls" on HBO where he received an Emmy nomination. He is rumoured to be an antagonist in Episode VII.

Andy Serkis is known to everyone as the performance artist who provided the voice and was motion captured for Gollum in the Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit. He was also performance captured for King Kong and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

And finally Max von Sydow needs no introduction to people who've watched movies since the 1950's because the 85 year old Swedish actor has been acting since then. If you've had a brain freeze - von Sydow was Father Merrin in The Excorcist,  Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon, King Osric [Conan The Barbarian], Doctor Kynes [Dune], Judge Fargo [Judge Dredd] and Burgess in Minority Report. More recently he's done voices on The Simpsons and in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I hope I'm not alone in saying that if von Sydow isn't the evil mastermind in this it will be wasted casting.

Franchise stalwarts Peter Mayhew [Chewbacca], Anthony Daniels [C3PO] and Kenny Baker [R2D2] are confirmed for the cast which Abrams' has stated is not yet complete.