Is ‘Aladdin’ Star Mena Massoud Joining The ‘Star Wars’ Universe?
By Kristin Myers on October 2, 2021 at 12:45 PM EDT
Big news may be coming to a galaxy far, far away!
The “Star Wars” universe has found recent popularity with their live-action streaming series, which means that actors need to be found in order to replace their animated counterparts. Although actress Rosario Dawson has received her portrayal of Ahsoka, Anakin Skywalker’s former Jedi padawan, fans have been wondering who will play “Star Wars: Rebels” hero Ezra Bridger.
Fortunately, fans may not have to wait long to see who will be cast in the latest live-action adaption. It is rumored that the breakout star of Disney’s 2019 live-action adaption of “Aladdin” has been cast to play the young Jedi.
View this post on Instagram
Who Is It?
Mena Massoud is a 30-year-old Canadian-Egyptian actor who was born in Cairo, Egypt. The young star got one of his first big roles in the 2015 TV series “Open Heart” and has even appeared in “Tom Clancy’s: Jack Ryan.”
His biggest role to date has been taking on the role of “lovable street urchin” Aladdin, who wishes to become a prince in order to woo the beautiful Princess Jasmine. Although he is set to reprise his role as Prince Ali in “Aladdin 2: The Return of Jafar” with a tentative release date set for 2022, it appears that Massoud has dropped some hints that he is looking to hop over into another Disney franchise: “Star Wars.”
‘Manifesting’
Fans felt that Massoud was hinting that he had already been selected for the role of Ezra Bridger when he posted a photo of himself walking down the street wearing sunglasses. He captioned the photo with a quote that sounds like something straight out of “Star Wars,” writing, “Once you believe – fully believe – it will happen. That’s the hardest part.”
When asked to confirm his participation in Ezra’s jump to the world of live-action, Massoud teased that he was simply “manifesting, just manifesting, trying different things,” because playing Ezra would be “a dream come true.”
In a recent interview, he continued, “Yeah, there's not much more I can say about that, but, I had heard murmurings that this role was coming up and this is becoming a real thing. So I just kinda wanted to throw my name in the ring and -- yeah, just part of manifesting what you want. I think we live in an age now that's so different than '70s, '80s, '90s, Hollywood, where there was no social media. It was really just your representatives, putting things out there for you. But now, we have the ability to put things out there for ourselves because of social media and because we can put things out there. So yeah, I just wanted to put it out there.”
But Is It Happening?
Although Massoud seems to be insisting that he hasn’t yet been selected for the role, it seems that Dawson might have already confirmed Massoud’s participation in the project.
In an Instagram post, Rosario posted a photo of Massoud alongside Ezra and Lars Mikkelsen alongside “Star Wars: Rebels” big bad Grand Admiral Thrawn, writing, “Yassss the best news ever! I need my BIPOC representation in [Star Wars]. Can't wait to see my BBs thrive in Ahsoka as my fav characters in the universe!”
With an expected release date of “Ahsoka” in 2023, it gives Massoud plenty of time to wrap up his commitments to “Aladdin 2” and join in on the adventures in the galaxy far, far away.
