Star Wars Cast: Actors and Directors in Every Film

The Star Wars cast is led by Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher in the original trilogy, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman in the prequels, and Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver in the sequels. The first 15 credited names on TMDB for each film cover the leads and the main supporting players, not every performer who appears on screen.

Original cast (1977 to 1983)

The original cast of Star Wars is Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford as Han Solo and Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa, billed in that order in Star Wars (1977), directed by George Lucas. Alec Guinness plays Obi-Wan Kenobi and Peter Cushing plays Grand Moff Tarkin. Anthony Daniels is C-3PO, Kenny Baker is R2-D2 and Peter Mayhew is Chewbacca. Darth Vader is split between two people: David Prowse is credited as the performer, and James Earl Jones supplies the voice (uncredited in the 1977 film).

The Empire Strikes Back (1980), directed by Irvin Kershner, adds Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, Frank Oz as the voice of Yoda and Jeremy Bulloch as Boba Fett. Return of the Jedi (1983), directed by Richard Marquand, adds Sebastian Shaw as Anakin Skywalker and Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine.

Prequel cast (1999 to 2005)

The prequel cast is led by Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman and Jake Lloyd in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), with Hayden Christensen taking over as Anakin Skywalker. That first film, directed by George Lucas, bills Neeson first as Qui-Gon Jinn, followed by McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Portman as Padmé Amidala and Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker. Ahmed Best plays Jar Jar Binks and Pernilla August plays Shmi Skywalker.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) moves Christensen to the top of the billing as Anakin, with Christopher Lee as Count Dooku, Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu and Temuera Morrison as Jango Fett. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) keeps Christensen, McGregor and Portman in the first three places and bills Ian McDiarmid fourth as Palpatine.

Sequel cast (2015 to 2019)

The sequel cast is led by Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver, joined by returning stars Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill. In Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), directed by J.J. Abrams, Ridley plays Rey, Boyega plays Finn, Isaac plays Poe Dameron and Driver plays Kylo Ren, while Fisher, Ford and Hamill return as Princess Leia Organa, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie and Max von Sydow fill out the supporting list.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), directed by Rian Johnson, adds Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico, Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Holdo and Benicio del Toro as DJ. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) bills Carrie Fisher first and adds Naomi Ackie as Jannah, Richard E. Grant as Allegiant General Pryde and Keri Russell as Zorii Bliss.

Spin-off casts

The spin-off casts are led by Felicity Jones in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Alden Ehrenreich in Solo: A Star Wars Story and Pedro Pascal in The Mandalorian and Grogu. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), directed by Gareth Edwards, stars Jones as Jyn Erso and Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, with Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, Riz Ahmed and Mads Mikkelsen. Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), directed by Ron Howard, stars Ehrenreich as Han Solo, with Joonas Suotamo, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke and Donald Glover.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008), directed by Dave Filoni, is animated, so its cast is a voice cast led by Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker and Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano. The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026), directed by Jon Favreau, stars Pascal as The Mandalorian, with Jeremy Allen White as the voice of Rotta, Sigourney Weaver as Colonel Ward and Martin Scorsese as the voice of Hugo Durant.

Who is in the newest Star Wars cast?

The newest Star Wars cast is Pedro Pascal, Jeremy Allen White and Sigourney Weaver in The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026), with Ryan Gosling starring in Star Wars: Starfighter (2027). Pascal is billed first, White voices Rotta and Weaver plays Colonel Ward. Starfighter has not been released, so no billing order exists for it yet.

Who are the women in the Star Wars cast?

Women in the Star Wars cast include Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia Organa), Natalie Portman (Padmé Amidala), Daisy Ridley (Rey), Felicity Jones (Jyn Erso), Emilia Clarke (Qi'ra) and Sigourney Weaver (Colonel Ward), among others. Fisher is credited as Princess Leia Organa in six films, from 1977 to 2019.

Who played Anakin Skywalker?

Four performers are credited as Anakin across the films. Jake Lloyd plays him in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Hayden Christensen in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Sebastian Shaw in Return of the Jedi, and Matt Lanter voices him in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Nine different directors have made the 13 released Star Wars films, and George Lucas directed four of them, in 1977, 1999, 2002 and 2005. Every other director on the list has credit for either one film or, in one case, two.

• George Lucas, 4 films: Star Wars (1977), Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
• Irvin Kershner, 1 film: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
• Richard Marquand, 1 film: Return of the Jedi (1983)
• J.J. Abrams, 2 films: Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
• Rian Johnson, 1 film: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
• Gareth Edwards, 1 film: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
• Ron Howard, 1 film: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
• Dave Filoni, 1 film: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
• Jon Favreau, 1 film: The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026)

Saga and spin-off directing split cleanly. All nine saga films were directed by one of five people (Lucas, Kershner, Marquand, Abrams or Johnson), while the four spin-offs each went to a different director.

Who directs the next Star Wars film?

Shawn Levy directs Star Wars: Starfighter, starring Ryan Gosling, with a US release date of May 28, 2027. Lucasfilm lists that date, and the film is now in post-production, since filming ran from August 28, 2025 to December 18, 2025. No UK or Australian date has been reported. Star Wars: Starfighter tracks the status.

Ewan McGregor, Anthony Daniels and Frank Oz are the clearest returning Star Wars actors, while Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, Grand Moff Tarkin and Anakin Skywalker have all been recast. McGregor plays Obi-Wan Kenobi across all three prequels. Daniels is credited as C-3PO in eight of the nine saga films within the first 15 TMDB credits of each. Oz is credited as Yoda in six films, from The Empire Strikes Back to Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Recast roles

Han Solo is the best known recast: Harrison Ford plays him in four films, from Star Wars (1977) to Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), and Alden Ehrenreich plays the younger Han in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Lando Calrissian passes from Billy Dee Williams to Donald Glover in the same film. Chewbacca moves from Peter Mayhew to Joonas Suotamo, who is credited as a Chewbacca double in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and as Chewbacca in Solo: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Anakin Skywalker has the most performers, four (Jake Lloyd, Hayden Christensen, Sebastian Shaw and Matt Lanter), and Grand Moff Tarkin has three: Peter Cushing in 1977, Wayne Pygram in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and Guy Henry in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Palpatine stays with one actor in live action, because Ian McDiarmid is credited under titles such as Senator, Chancellor, The Emperor and Emperor across five films, while Ian Abercrombie voices him in the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Voices and crossovers

Christopher Lee (Count Dooku), Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu) and Jimmy Smits (Bail Organa) each play the same character in three films, and Lee and Jackson also voice theirs in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Lee is credited in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and the animated film, and Jackson follows the same path. Smits plays Bail Organa in both of those prequels and in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Temuera Morrison appears in two prequels, as Jango Fett and the Clone Troopers in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and as Commander Cody in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.

One small crossover is Rotta, the son of Jabba the Hutt. David Acord voices him in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Jeremy Allen White voices him in The Mandalorian and Grogu. Jon Favreau voices Rio Durant in Solo: A Star Wars Story and then directs The Mandalorian and Grogu.

Opinion: the Tarkin credits

In my opinion, the Tarkin credits are the most interesting case of the lot, since three separate performers carry one character across 1977, 2005 and 2016. Jimmy Smits offers the quieter counterpart, with one actor playing Bail Organa across 2002, 2005 and 2016. For a quick check on a role, start with the character pages, such as Luke Skywalker or Han Solo.