Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o and Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie have joined the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII, Disney and Lucasfilm announced Monday.

Similar to the initial announcement of the film's main cast, no details were provided about the characters the actresses would be playing in Episode VII, which is currently in production in Abu Dhabi.

But the addition of two female roles to the cast is a welcome one — it basically doubles the number of women in the movie. And both actresses are formidable: Nyong'o shot to sudden fame last year with her wrenching, Oscar-winning debut performance in Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave, and Christie plays the towering and powerful Brienne of Tarth on HBO's Game of Thrones.

"I could not be more excited about Lupita and Gwendoline joining the cast of Episode VII," Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy (and Episode VII producer) said in a statement. "It's thrilling to see this extraordinarily talented ensemble taking shape." That ensemble also includes John Boyega (Attack the Block, Fox's 24: Live Another Day), newcomer Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver (HBO's Girls), Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis), Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), and Max von Sydow (Minority Report, The Exorcist), along with original stars Harrison Ford (as Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (as Princess Leia), Mark Hamill (as Luke Skywalker), Anthony Daniels (as C-3PO), Peter Mayhew (as Chewbacca), and Kenny Baker (as RD-D2).