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

Dream casting the Star Wars saga: Zoe Saldana as Oola

Here’s yet another of the strange creatures we meet inside Jabba’s palace. Outside of a few cries and yells, Oola doesn’t really have any dialogue to speak of, but she’s still memorable. We meet her when she’s dancing for Jabba. Unfortunately, she displeases him, so the great big blog hits a button that drops her down to an under-cellar where she’s devoured by a frightful monster.

The role is small but potent, and if it weren’t so brief, I’d say it was right in actress’ Zoe Saldana’s wheelhouse. Then again, this is a dream casting list for a hypothetical movie, so why not include her?

The tiny nature of the part aside, Oola is so perfect for Saldana it’s almost eerie. First of all, she has a dance background, having trained in the ECOS Espacio de Danza Academy in the Dominican Republic before abandoning it for acting. Since then, Saldana has found a niche starring as the female lead in pulpy sci-fi movies. She plays Uhura in the rebooted Star Trek films and provided the motion-capture work for Neytiri in Avatar.

What makes Saldana an ideal choice for Oola, however, is her role as Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy. What are the odds that Saldana would play another green-skinned alien? That’s just too many signs to ignore.

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