Chapter 893: The Chinese-American Lead of Star Wars

As director, Duke envisioned the film's female lead as an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old girl, completely ignorant of the Skywalker Family and the many secrets of Star Wars. Just trying to survive in a desert-planet environment, she would constantly cling to hope for the future. He wanted an actress who fit this strong, tenacious image.

During the subsequent auditions, the five-foot-seven Daisy Ridley completely turned around her earlier poor performance, displaying her unique strengths. She left a good impression on Duke.

Quiet, obedient, and highly explosive, the seemingly petite Daisy Ridley possessed an athletic build with beautifully defined muscle tone in her arms.

Daisy Ridley had just finished a routine self-introduction.

Duke folded his arms across his chest, looked over at her, and suddenly asked, "You just saw a partial scene fragment for the character. Do you think you are a fit for this role?"

A vague script fragment couldn't reveal any real information. Daisy Ridley had no way to judge what kind of character this actually was; even with solid acting skills, there wasn't much room to showcase them.

A girl in her early twenties with outstanding acting chops would be a genius among geniuses. In his twenty-plus years in the industry, Duke had only met two. He didn't expect to be as lucky as George Lucas and stumble upon another. Judging by the audition results so far, there truly were no such acting prodigies here.

Because of this, finding someone who could essentially play themselves—much like Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark—would undoubtedly shape the character far better.

Duke wanted to find someone whose personality matched the female lead's.

"Although my acting career has just begun, and much of it is still immature..."

Evidently, after her recent adjustment, Daisy Ridley was growing more confident. Paired with her striking features and resolute gaze, her overall aura felt quite distinctive.

"...but I think I can bring freshness and confidence to the role," she said.

The audition room fell quiet again. Duke remained silent, but Tina Fey, who worked in perfect sync with him, took over the questioning.

"Who is your favorite actor?" she asked.

"Carey Mulligan!" Daisy Ridley said without a second thought. "She is absolutely amazing, and her roles are stunning. Also, her life is very private."

Tina Fey didn't give her a chance to overthink it.

"How will you handle your future life as an actress?" she asked.

"Act well, and live well." Daisy Ridley didn't hesitate either. "I feel you need to be strong, thoughtful, and careful. You have to be aware of your influence on others. And when faced with things that might change your life and leave you full of uncertainty, don't be afraid."

Duke nodded at Tina Fey.

"That will be all for today's audition," Tina Fey told Daisy Ridley. "I will notify your agent of the final results."

Once Daisy Ridley left the room, Duke turned to Anna Printz and Robin Grande.

"Put Daisy Ridley on the priority follow-up list," he said.

If Daisy Ridley's subsequent auditions were outstanding enough, Duke wouldn't mind choosing a British actress as his new film's female lead.

Leaving the audition room, Duke and Tina Fey had just returned to the office when Charles Roven knocked and walked in. He didn't need to stand on ceremony with Duke, sitting down directly across the desk.

"Duke, are you planning to use an Asian actor for Finn, one of the male leads?" Charles Roven asked tentatively.

"Not an Asian actor," Duke corrected. "A Chinese-American actor."

"Making a Chinese-American actor the second lead?" Charles Roven frowned slightly. "I don't think a Chinese-American actor is more suitable than a Black actor. If the film is released and someone uses racial discrimination as an excuse..."

"Charles." Duke raised a hand, interrupting him. "The first lead is a white female, the second lead is a Chinese-American male, the third lead is a Latino actor, and then we'll pick a Black actor for one of the other positive roles."

Everyone in the office was on his side, so Duke didn't bother hiding his thoughts.

"If we do that, and those people with fragile glass hearts still attack us for racial discrimination, then they'll be asking for trouble," he said.

Setting aside the Chinese-American or broader Asian populations, the number of Latinos in America far exceeded that of Black people. Although their social status couldn't compare to that of Black people, they still could not be ignored.

Hearing Duke say this, both Charles Roven and Tina Fey, who was sitting to the side, laughed out loud. Such an approach truly wouldn't leave anyone an opening to attack them in the name of "racial discrimination."

Duke looked over at Tina Fey.

"Hand the materials I asked you to gather over to Charles," he said.

Tina Fey dug out a file, walked over, and handed it to Charles Roven. He opened it, flipped through it, and spoke up.

"I think I've heard of this Daniel Wu," he said.

"He's a Chinese-American actor with very high popularity in the market across the Pacific Ocean, and his image has always been sunny and healthy," Duke said, briefly introducing him. "His wife's family are wealthy elites in Las Vegas, and he himself has a sufficient understanding of our culture."

After the prep meetings, Duke had deliberated over the male lead candidates for a long time. For Star Wars 7 to achieve a massive breakout, the market in China could not be ignored. Although he had launched numerous promotional campaigns in the Chinese market after acquiring Lucasfilm—efforts far exceeding those of the former Walt Disney—it simply wasn't enough to secure a box office explosion across the Pacific Ocean for a film like this.

Naturally, adding a Chinese-American star with solid popularity and a good image across the Pacific to the lead cast became one of Duke's options.

Picking Daniel Wu wasn't due to Duke's personal preference, but rather because he couldn't find a more suitable candidate.

Daniel Wu possessed sufficient fame across the Pacific, lacked major scandals, and maintained a sunny, healthy image. His addition would inevitably attract the attention of fans across the ocean. More importantly, Daniel Wu had long since obtained American citizenship and held a certain level of recognition across America.

To a certain extent, this would also reduce unnecessary pushback.

From a market perspective, choosing Daniel Wu was far more appropriate than casting a Black actor. Although the media and the public rarely mentioned it out loud, having a Black lead actually had impacted the previous film's box office performance in the cross-Pacific market. Even Walt Disney had anticipated this in the past; in the Chinese versions of the posters and trailers they produced, the Black actor had been relegated to an inconspicuous position.

It wasn't just box office, but also related merchandise, especially image licensing. How many licensed figures or action dolls of a Black actor could actually sell? Daniel Wu, on the other hand, represented a boundlessly vast market—a market that was continuously standardizing.

No matter how you looked at it, choosing Daniel Wu to play the male lead was a hundred times better than casting a Black actor.

True, a Chinese-American actor appearing among the main cast of Star Wars was bound to trigger resentment and boycotts from some white supremacists. The problem was that if they cast a Black actor, those exact same issues would still exist. The controversies surrounding that previous movie had already proven this point.

Charles Roven immediately contacted Daniel Wu's agent. Daniel Wu had always wanted to develop his career in Hollywood, but things hadn't gone too smoothly. Currently, Daniel Wu was in talks with the production team for World of Warcraft, jointly produced by Blizzard Company and Legendary Pictures, trying to secure the role of Gul'dan.

Unlike how Legendary Pictures and Warner Brothers had collaborated in the past only to part ways, due to Duke's influence, the current Legendary Pictures hadn't participated in the production of the Batman trilogy or Inception at all. They had no collaborative relationship with Warner Brothers either, rendering them a rather inconspicuous second-tier studio.

Moreover, the role of Gul'dan relied entirely on Motion Capture from beginning to end; Daniel Wu's face wouldn't even appear in the film.

Granted, World of Warcraft was hailed as one of the most successful online games ever, boasting a massive fanbase worldwide, and its film adaptation drew considerable attention. But when placed next to Star Wars, its film version simply couldn't compare. Besides, just how many video game movies had actually been truly successful?

How should one choose between World of Warcraft and Star Wars? For any actor, it was a no-brainer.

After Duke personally gave Daniel Wu a call, the famous Chinese-American actor abandoned the in-development World of Warcraft without a second thought, throwing himself into the embrace of Star Wars 7. As long as he could pass the audition, he would play the film's second lead.

Auditions were tense and busy. Almost anyone who could pull some strings found a way to reach out to Duke to recommend suitable actors from their rosters. Duke's agent, Nancy Josephson, was no exception. She recommended Chloe Moretz, whom she had just signed.

Unlike before, Duke simply glanced at a recent photo of Chloe Moretz and unhesitatingly rejected Nancy Josephson's request.

It was true he had asked for a female lead who wasn't overly slender, but she couldn't be as bulky as Chloe Moretz, either. This actress, who had played Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass, was a textbook example of the typical Hollywood child star trajectory. As a child, she had been unbelievably cute and full of spirit, but as an adult, not only had her features gone off the rails, she had developed a stiff, expressionless zombie face...

Such an actress simply didn't meet Duke's requirements for the female lead.

As with all Hollywood movies and Hollywood directors, not every actor was scrambling to join Duke's crew. For example, Michael Fassbender, upon receiving the invitation to play the main villain, politely declined the acting contract, opting to continue his role as Magneto instead.

While some didn't want to join the cast, others actively sought out roles. Benedict Cumberbatch participated in the audition for the main villain, Kylo Ren, but was eliminated by Duke in the very first round. Unless Duke had water in the brain, there was no way he would cast Benedict Cumberbatch.