Han Solo (Harrison Ford) returns, but is he back to his smuggling ways? It's been 38 years since Ford initially starred as the scruffy looking nerf herder, and it's rumored he's the top-paid actor on the project.
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Finn (John Boyega), a disillusioned member of the First Order. Boyega is no veteran of the silver screen but did have a hit with sci-fi comedy "Attack the Block" in 2011, a performance that drew the attention of "The Force Awakens" director J.J. Abrams.
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Rey (Daisy Ridley), a young scavenger on the desert planet of Jakku. The role is Ridley's first film, after minor appearances in British TV dramas including "Casualty" and "Silent Witness." Not all her parts have been glamorous; in one, she played a corpse.
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Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie), a chrome-wearing stormtrooper from the First Order. Christie is one of numerous "Game of Thrones" cast members to feature in the film, including Max von Sydow as Lor San Tekka.
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Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), the movie's antagonist, wielding a distinctive red lightsaber with crossguard exhausts. Before "Star Wars," Driver was best known as Adam Sackler, Lena Dunham's hapless love interest, in the hit HBO series "Girls." He also happens to be a former Marine.
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Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), a hotshot pilot and member of the Resistance. Issac is on a hot streak, starring as a creepy artificial intelligence designer in "Ex Machina" and a depressed musician in the Coen brother's "Inside Llewyn Davis." An actor who doesn't shy away from franchises, he's also set to appear in "X-Men: Apocalypse" this summer.
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General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson), a young but high-achieving officer in the First Order, the successor to the Empire. Gleeson, the son of actor Brendan, is prolific: in the past few years, he's had hits with "Harry Potter," "About Time," "Brooklyn" and "The Revenant."
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BB-8, an astromech droid, with Rey. Built from a concept by Abrams and brought to life by Neal Scanlan, Matt Denton and Josh Lee, he's a fan favorite. We can sense R2-D2's jealousy from here.
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Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong'o), old and wise and shrouded in mystery. The role, undertaken by Nyong'o in a motion-capture outfit, follows her Oscar-winning turn as Patsy in "Twelve Years A Slave."
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Leia (Carrie Fisher), no longer a princess, going by General in "The Force Awakens." After years in Hollywood's hinterland, Fisher is back and has stolen the limelight throughout "The Force Awakens'" publicity tour, bringing her dog Gary along for the ride.
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Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) returns, fresh from his last appearance in "Episode III: Return of the Sith." The 7-foot-2 actor's career has almost exclusively been spent playing the loveable Wookiee. He even appeared in "Glee" in the outfit in 2011.
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C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), back for his seventh installment in the saga, this time featuring a new red limb. He's the only actor to have had a speaking part in all of the films and ties his number of appearances with Kenny Baker (as R2-D2).
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R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), an astromech droid and "Star Wars" veteran, alongside a mechanical hand. Could it be Luke? Though he's famous for playing R2, Baker also appeared as an Ewok in "Return of the Jedi" and was set to play Wicket until he fell ill, opening up the chance for Warwick Davis to claim the part for his own.
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First Order Troopers, with new weapons and armor design for the sequels. These days, the stormtroopers' weapons are custom-made (and include flamethrowers!), but in the original trilogy, they were crafted from real firearms by Roger Christian and the prop team.
