R2-D2 Confirmed For Star Wars Episode VII, But No One's Called Kenny Baker

Earlier this week, Lucasfilm confirmed that R2-D2 will appear in Star Wars Episode VII. One might have thought that director J.J. Abrams might have called Kenny Baker, the actor who is famous for playing R2-D2 in the Star Wars films, before the big announcement was made, either to offer him the role or to let him know they were going a different direction. However, according to a report in the Lancashire Evening Post, no one has given Kenny Baker so much as a courtesy call. "Nobody has approached me at all yet and I don't know if they are going to," said Baker. Baker has appeared in around twenty films total, and he also indicates he would like to be a part of Star Wars Episode VII. Kenny Baker played R2-D2 in the first five Star Wars films, and he was credited with Revenge of the Sith, even though mechanical and CGI versions  were used for the character. Given that Lucasfilm has hired two members of R2-D2 Builders Club to work on Star Wars Episode VII, it's likely that J.J. Abrams is planning to go the mechanical and CGI route as well. The fact that no one has approached Kenny Baker about returning for Star Wars Episode VII seems to be a common occurrence among former Star Wars actors. Samuel L. Jackson recently expressed his desire to return for Star Wars Episode VII on The Late Show with David Letterman, but he mentioned no one had contacted him. He also brought up that both Mark Hamill and Ewan McGregor had said J.J. Abrams hadn't called them either. Star Wars Episode VII is scheduled to be released in movie theaters on December 18, 2015.