Star Wars VII: Essential Characters And Who Should Play Them – PART II

2. Shohreh Aghdashloo - Vergere

Who: Vergere was the first Expanded Universe character that really brought into question the balance between the Force. While making appearances throughout the events of the New Jedi Order, I constantly found myself questioning whether or not she was a power for good or evil. Vergere€™s origins date back to the time of the Old Republic before the Clone Wars when she mysteriously disappeared and fell off the radar with the Jedi Order. It would turn out that she was the one to first discover the Yuuzhan Vong on a planet known as Zanoma Sekot and would ultimately become their prisoner. It would also later be revealed that Vergere studied many non-Jedi doctrines in developing her own ideas in relation to the Force. There is a lot of depth to Vergere€™s character and her interactions with other prominent Sith such as Darth Sidious and Lumiya is critical. During her captivity with the Yuuzhan Vong, she would meet Jacen Solo after he himself would be captured during the Yuuzhan Vong War. These two characters would interact in some of the best Star Wars Force philosophy since first witnessing Luke€™s interactions with Obi-Wan and Yoda. The introduction of a Force gray area was born: Neither Light nor Dark but neutral. She represents a Jedi of the old order that found herself surviving their extinction and creating her own doctrine. This could be a an exciting yet captivating new direction to take the Star Wars franchise because it forces the view to change their own perspective on what we as fans thought we knew about the Force. Actress: At first mention many people may not know who Shohreh Aghdashloo is because she is not an extremely prominent actress. However, when you look at her film resume it€™s safe to assume that you€™ve seen a number of the shows and films that she has been in: X-Men: The Last Stand, 24, FlashForward and the Mob Doctor. The reason I see Aghdashloo as Vergere is primarily for her voice. For anyone that has played the Mass Effect games, she plays the Quarian Admiral Shala€™Raan vas Tonbay. Aghdashloo has a very strong, raspy yet gentle voice. I could easily envision her as the Fosh species that Vergere is debating endlessly the different sides of the Force. It would be exciting to think that she could embody a character that calls into questions all of the teaching that Yoda passed on to Luke.