Why Oscar-Winner Mikey Madison Turned Down Ryan Gosling's Star Wars Movie

In April of 2025, /Film reported that director Shawn Levy, the Hollywood journeyman behind "Big Fat Liar," "The Pink Panther," "Real Steel," and "Deadpool & Wolverine," will be overseeing a brand new "Star Wars" film called "Star Wars: Starfighter." Little is known about the project at this juncture, other than it will star Ryan Gosling as a heretofore unknown character, and that it will be set after the events of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker." The vast bulk of the "Star Wars" projects made by Disney since its acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012 have been flashbacks, prequels, or interquels, so "Starfighter" will be the first "Star Wars" film since 2019 to push the timeline forward. 

Mikey Madison, the Academy Award-winning star of Sean Baker's "Anora," was reportedly approached to play a role in "Starfighter" as well. Evidently, she was being tapped to play the film's central villainess. Madison was a rising star when she appeared in "Anora," having already starred in the 2022 version of "Scream" and in Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood." Her first major role was playing Max in all 52 episodes of the 2016 series "Better Things." Madison, however, has always been careful and choosy about her roles, so she turned down the role in "Starfighter." Her decision was mentioned in a recent report in the Hollywood Reporter, and it seems that she wasn't okay with the salary that Disney offered her. 

Nothing else is known about "Starfighter" at this time, and the teaser trailer that Disney showed at the Star Wars Celebration press event in 2025 (covered on the company's website) was merely an animated title screen with a proposed release date: May 28, 2027. It will follow the release of "The Mandalorian & Grogu," set to open on May 22, 2026. Multiple other "Star Wars" films are in the development stage, but none of them yet have a release date.

It should be acknowledged that "Star Wars" no longer holds the appeal that it did about a decade ago. When "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was released in 2015, it toppled box office records, announcing that "Star Wars" was back, baby. It was the first original theatrical film in the franchise since "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" in 2008, and audiences were ready for it. Disney announced that they intended to release a major "Star Wars" film every year. The odd-numbered years would feature "official" chapters in the ongoing "Star Wars" saga, while the even-numbered years would feature prequels, interquels, and other stand-alone projects. This was in addition to "Star Wars" shows on Disney+ and a new "Star Wars" area at Disneyland. 

"Star Wars" overexposure took only about five years. The market was flooded, and fans were in a frenzy amid the oversaturation. It also didn't help that several of the franchise's higher-profile projects were just plain awful ("Solo," "The Rise of Skywalker") or at least controversial ("The Last Jedi"). Although many might assume that an up-and-coming actress like Mikey Madison might appreciate the fame and exposure that appearing in a "Star Wars" film might lend her, it's just as safe to assume that she'll be ignored entirely or, worse yet, made the target of a sexist online hate campaign (ask Kelly Marie Tran about that). 

So while the Hollywood Reporter said that Madison turned down "Starfighter" because of money, it's likely that she, a savvy businesswoman, was weighing the salary against the grief and headaches that would have most certainly come with starring in "Star Wars." If Disney wasn't going to pay her enough to weather a tide of online abuse, then she was wise to walk away. We'll see if Levy and Gosling have the stomach for it.