Shortly after revealing that filming had already begun on Star Wars: Episode VII, despite the cast not being finalized and the script only recently taking complete shape, now The Hollywood Reporter has passed along word of another actor it believes is confirmed to appear. Not surprisingly, it’s Peter Mayhew, whose Chewbacca could pretty much jump right in there whenever, seeing as he’s not really beholden to such things as interactions with other characters or finished dialogue. He is, in fact, a giant Wookiee who howls and hits things.
Mayhew’s participation hasn’t yet been officially confirmed by Disney, but THR notes that he recently dropped out of an upcoming fan convention in May “due to filming.” That’s a timeline that coincides with Episode VII’s production schedule, and a decision that speaks to how important that “filming” must be, if it means Peter Mayhew is missing out on that sweet, sweet convention money. Anyway, this means Episode VII will definitely have R2D2 and Chewbacca, at least—so if nothing else, the whole movie could just be them sitting around playing chess.