Benicio Del Toro on Playing STAR WARS EPISODE 8 Villain: "Looks Like It's Gonna Happen"

A few weeks ago, Benicio Del Toro was reportedly offered the role of the villain in Rian Johnson's Star Wars: Episode 8, but there was no hint as to whether or not the actor was interested in taking the part. But ET caught up with Del Toro at an event for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and managed to get as close to a confirmation as you can get out of him:

"I can't tell you much about it, but I think it might happen. It looks like it's gonna happen, so I'm very excited...I can’t talk too much about it. The script is hard to get. They told me they’d cut my finger if I talk about it."

That's about all the information I'd expect us to get this early on in the process, especially since The Force Awakens hasn't even come out yet. We're still not sure which actors will make it through to the next entry of this new trilogy, so if all goes well, Del Toro could be sharing the screen with Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and the new crop of younger actors like Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, though if he's playing the villain, it seems more likely he'd be alongside Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Max von Sydow, and Adam Driver.

Star Wars: Episode VIII arrives in theaters on May 26th, 2017.