Dame Judi Dench Up For STAR WARS: EPISODE 7 Role?

Earlier this morning we brought you a quote from Star Wars: Episode VII director J J Abrams where he expressed some amazement at the amount of “crazy things” that get reported on about the film that are “complete false.” I suppose that this new rumor may fall into that category.

Word is starting to swirl that Dame Judi Dench will be playing Mon Motha in the upcoming Star Wars sequel. The character first appeared as one of the leaders of the Rebel Alliance in Return Of The Jedi and subsequently played a part in the Star Wars Expanded Universe of novels and comics.

The rumor can be traced back to the most recent episode of the Full Of Sith podcast (via StarWarsUnderworld) and I don’t really buy this one for a couple of reasons. First off, due to her ongoing with failing eyesight due to macular degeneration, Dench needs someone to read her scripts to her and as such as pulled back on her her acting workload. Secondly, this is an untested source, so I am inclined to doubt this until some independent confirmation comes in. Thirdly, actress Caroline Blakiston, who played the character in Return Of The Jedi, is still working and roughly the same age as Dench. This is a film that does not necessarily need Dench’s name on the marquee to sell tickets, and it wouldn’t surprise me that if director J J Abrams was planning on bringing the character back he wouldn’t reach out to Blakison first.

Right now, we’re filing this under “Probable Bull.”