Is Keri Russell Playing Rey’s Mom In Star Wars: Episode IX?

One of the best bits of The Last Jedi was when Rey finally found out who her parents were. It was a question that had occupied the minds of Star Wars fans ever since The Force Awakens, with most assuming she’d turn out to be the secret heir to one of the great Jedi dynasties (most likely a Skywalker of some kind).

So, it was quite the delicious anticlimax when Kylo Ren casually revealed that they were “filthy junk traders who sold you on for drinking money. They’re dead. In a pauper’s grave in the Jakku desert.” That looked to be the end of it, but perhaps J.J. Abrams could be walking that revelation back in Star Wars: Episode IX – if this latest rumor turns out to be true, that is.

The Express is reporting that new addition to the cast Keri Russell has been shooting a scene with Adam Driver which is being described as an action sequence on some kind of a ship. The newspaper argues that as Keri’s character is named Mara, and that The Last Jedi novelization opens with Luke daydreaming about Mara Jade, then this means that Russell could be Rey’s mother, after all.

Here’s how The Express rationalizes it:

“The novelisation of The Last Jedi also opened with Luke daydreaming about an alternate life where he fell in love with Mara and married her. Russell and Rey actress Daisy Ridley certainly look similar enough for them to be mother and daughter irrespective of whether Luke is the father. If Kylo actually knows Rey’s mother after all, this would add a new layer to his twisted plans.”

While this is certainly interesting to ponder, there’s been absolutely no confirmation that Keri Russell’s character is indeed named Mara. True, Lucasfilm put out a casting call for a female character with that name a while back, but we have no idea whether it was referring to Russell’s role or someone else.

Not only that, but the novelization of The Last Jedi doesn’t open with Luke daydreaming about Mara Jade, but a completely different character named Camie (played by Koo Stark in scenes cut from A New Hope). Also, The Express is a tabloid with a track record of making up all kinds of rubbish. I mean, if they put out a front page insisting that the sky was blue I’d stick my head out of the window to check.

So no, Keri Russell probably isn’t playing Rey’s mom in Star Wars: Episode IX. Don’t believe everything you read.