You may have guessed it already, but now it’s official: the mysterious voice in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer belongs to Andy Serkis!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens got its first teaser trailer last Friday, and the fandom exploded.
Among other things, the trailer brought us our first look at the characters played by John Boyega and Daisy Ridley, what appears to be a football-shaped descendant of R2-D2, the return of the Millennium Falcon, and an awesome new lightsaber-sword. (Read our extensive breakdown of the trailer for more details.)
The trailer also included an ominous voice-over, which said: “There has been an awakening… have you felt it? The Dark Side… and the Light.”
It sounds an awful lot like either Andy Serkis or Benedict Cumberbatch – and fans weren’t quite able to figure out which of them it was until now.
Most people assumed Serkis, as the actor has been cast in the film (and is reportedly playing multiple digital characters), but as Benedict Cumberbatch has been rumoured to appear in Episode VII as well, we had to wait for official confirmation.
HitFix was the first to confirm that the voice belongs to Andy Serkis, and this morning, ABC’s Good Morning America made the official announcement.
Since the reveal, The Huffington Post has released an interview with Andy Serkis, in which the actor reveals that the narration wasn’t recorded specifically for the trailer.
“JJ [Abrams] said, ‘Andy, your voice is in the trailer,’ and I just thought, ‘that’s great,'” the actor recalls, adding that, “it is amazing to be part of [the new films], and he’s made such an incredible job of it, and honouring the original.”
As for Benedict Cumberbatch, the actor has confirmed to Radio Times that not only is he not the trailer voice, but he won’t be appearing in The Force Awakens at all – although the publication notes that he displays a “cheeky little smirk” as he denies the rumours. Is there still hope for a surprise Cumberbatch appearance?