Ever since J.J. Abrams first signed on to direct Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he and producer Kathleen Kennedy have expressed an emphasis on practical effects versus digital. Fully aware that audiences were less-than-enthused by the overload of CGI in the prequel trilogy (not to mention the CG tinkering to the original trilogy), Abrams and Kennedy set out to do as many in-camera effects in Episode VII as possible. Now, part of the method to their plan may have been revealed as a new report claims that the trio of martial arts-inclined actors that led The Raid and The Raid 2 have roles in The Force Awakens. More after the jump.

The folks over at Twitch report that actors Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruyhian, and Cecep Arif Rahman will appear in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. That’s about as far as the information goes, as we have no confirmation on the nature of their roles or anything, but it’s safe to assume that they’ll be featured in some sort of fighting capacity. Since the Force Awakens cast is already pretty full of known actors, I’d be surprised if any of the aforementioned actors played a major role in the plot, but it’s certainly possible.

Uwais was the lead actor in both The Raid movies, showing off both his acting and martial arts skills, while Ruyhian played Mad Dog and Rahman was the principal fighter in the finale of The Raid 2. Suffice it to say that these guys know what they’re doing when it comes to fight sequences, and it should be pretty great to see them show off their skills with lightsabers or any number of Star Wars weapons at their disposal.

This actually isn’t a wholly new notion with regards to Star Wars, as George Lucas cast martial artist Ray Park as Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace. It resulted in some pretty fantastic lightsaber battles, and I’m hopeful Abrams has put together something equally (if not more) exciting for Uwais, Ruyhian, and Rahman in The Force Awakens.

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