50 Roles for 50 Actors: Dream casting the Star Wars saga

Dream casting the Star Wars saga: Josh Hutcherson as Wedge Antilles

Wedge Antilles is sort of like the secondary hero of the Star Wars saga. He was at Luke’s side when Luke destroyed the first Death Star, he participated in the Battle of Hoth during The Empire Strikes Back, and he helped blow up the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi. He was always there, but he never got much credit. If he’s a hero, he’s an unsung one. For whatever reason, his story made me think of Josh Hutcherson’s character from The Hunger Games.

Now, Hutcherson is ostensibly the male lead of The Hunger Games movies, but he always seemed like he was playing second fiddle to me. With his square jaw and easy likability, he looked the part of a lead, but he didn’t have the charisma of Jennifer Lawrence, and he wasn’t as interesting as the character played by Liam Hemsworth, his romantic rival. He was just kind of…there…keeping his head down while other characters did the heavy lifting.

I’m sure there are other interpretations of Hutcherson’s role in The Hunger Games, but from where I was sitting, he gave off beta male energy that would be a good fit for Wedge, another character who gets overshadowed by the bigger names in the series.

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