The \u201cStar Wars\u201d franchise \u2014 now 40 years young \u2014 is full of secret cameos, soon-to-be-famous actors in small bit parts, and\u2026<\/b>
\nThe \u201cStar Wars\u201d franchise \u2014 now 40 years young \u2014 is full of secret cameos, soon-to-be-famous actors in small bit parts, and well-known faces behind alien masks and makeup. Here are 30 big names hidden throughout the franchise you might not have known about.
For more features and deep dives into the world of \u201cStar Wars\u201d and the culture surrounding it, be sure to check out IMDb\u2019s \u201cStar Wars\u201d hub.
John Ratzenberger (\u201cThe Empire Strikes Back\u201d)
Ratzenberger is best remembered as know-it-all postman Cliff Clavin from \u201cCheers,\u201d or maybe his numerous voice roles in Pixar movies. In \u201cThe Empire Strikes Back,\u201d Ratzenberger is one of the Rebel officers hanging around Echo Base on Hoth with Princess Leia and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels).
Treat Williams (\u201cThe Empire Strikes Back\u201d)
When you\u2019re Treat Williams, you can wander onto the set of \u201cThe Empire Strikes Back\u201d and find yourself in the movie. Williams reportedly dropped by England\u2019s Elstree Studios set, where the movie was being filmed, to visit Carrie Fisher. Apparently one thing led to another, and now Williams plays one of the Rebel troops running around Echo Base on Hoth.
Julian Glover (\u201cThe Empire Strikes Back\u201d)
Julian Glover\u2019s General Veers is probably the most competent officer available to Darth Vader as wanders the galaxy looking for the Rebels and Luke Skywalker. He\u2019d be decidedly less competent as Grand Maester Pycelle on \u201cGame of Thrones,\u201d but decidedly more evil as Nazi collaborator Walter Donovan in \u201cIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade\u201d (you know \u2014 the guy who ages super fast after drinking from the wrong grail).
Tony Cox (\u201cReturn of the Jedi\u201d)
In an Ewok suit, you\u2019d never know Tony Cox appeared in \u201cReturn of the Jedi.\u201d He wouldn\u2019t really show off his acting chops until later when he was stealing scenes all over comedies like \u201cBad Santa,\u201d where he was Billy Bob Thornton\u2019s much-smarter mall-robbing accomplice\/Christmas elf, and \u201cMe, Myself and Irene.\u201d
Deep Roy (\u201cReturn of the Jedi\u201d)
It\u2019s easiest to remember Deep Roy in the Johnny Depp-starring \u201cCharlie and the Chocolate Factory,\u201d since Roy played every orange oompa-loompa in that movie. In \u201cReturn of the Jedi,\u201d he was both an Ewok and the puffy alien band member Droopy McCool in Jabba\u2019s Palace. Deep Roy also worked on \u201cThe Empire Strikes Back,\u201d acting as a stand-in for the muppet Yoda.
Keira Knightley (\u201cThe Phantom Menace\u201d)
Knightley wasn\u2019t just any handmaiden in \u201cThe Phantom Menace\u201d \u2014 she was the handmaiden. Serving as the decoy for the real queen, Knightley was the actress people thought was Amidala for half the movie, before Natalie Portman\u2019s Padm\u00e9 revealed her true identity.
Peter Serafinowicz (\u201cThe Phantom Menace\u201d)
Marvel Cinematic Universe fans will recognize Peter Seafinowicz for his turn as untrusting Nova Corps officer Garthan Saal in \u201cGuardians of the Galaxy.\u201d He didn\u2019t appear in \u201cThe Phantom Menace,\u201d but provided the gravely, frightening voice of Darth Maul (the rest of whom was played by Ray Park), as well as for a gungan warrior and a battle droid.
Dominic West (\u201cThe Phantom Menace\u201d)
The prequel trilogy was filled with actors who would go on to do great things, but who were mostly filling small or background roles in the \u201cStar Wars\u201d universe. Dominic West\u2019s character in \u201cThe Phantom Menace\u201d was an otherwise nondescript member of Queen Amidala\u2019s palace guard \u2014 nothing so interesting as his later turn as Jimmy McNulty on HBO\u2019s \u201cThe Wire.\u201d
Sofia Coppola (\u201cThe Phantom Menace\u201d)
There really were a mess of these handmaidens. Before she was a full-time director, Sofia Coppola picked up a few small acting gigs, including the handmaiden Sach\u00e9 in \u201cThe Phantom Menace.\u201d Just a few years after the 1999 movie, in 2003, Coppola would pick up a Best Director Academy Award nomination for \u201cLost in Translation.\u201d
Sally Hawkins (\u201cThe Phantom Menace\u201d)
Before she was an Academy Award-nominated actress for her role in \u201cBlue Jasmine,\u201d Sally Hawkins was an extra in the giant celebration scene in \u201cThe Phantom Menace.\u201d She admitted in an interview with Conan O\u2019Brien that she\u2019d never actually seen the movie, despite being in it.
Richard Armitage (\u201cThe Phantom Menace\u201d)
Blink and you\u2019d miss Richard Armitage\u2019s small background role (second from the right in the background) among the guards on Naboo. Although, it\u2019s tough to recognize him without the lustrous locks Armitage sported in \u201cThe Hobbit\u201d as Thorin Oakenshield, or the creepy teeth from his turn as killer Francis Dolarhyde in \u201cHannibal\u201d Season 3 on NBC.
Rose Byrne (\u201cAttack of the Clones\u201d)
Before she was a mainstay of the \u201cInsidious\u201d movies alongside Patrick Wilson or had joined the \u201cX-Men\u201d franchise as CIA Agent Moira MacTaggert, Rose Byrne was one of the handmaidens serving Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) in the \u201cStar Wars\u201d prequels. Specifically, she was Dorm\u00e9, who accompanied Padm\u00e9 to Coruscant to do government things.
Martin Csokas (\u201cAttack of the Clones\u201d)
The \u201cStar Wars\u201d movies have slipped a few notable actors into the voice roles of aliens. Martin Csokas is one \u2014 he provided the voice of the Geonosian alien Poggle the Lesser in \u201cAttack of the Clones.\u201d Fantasy fans probably know him better as the elf Celeborn, husband to Cate Blanchett\u2019s Galadriel in \u201cThe Lord of the Rings.\u201d
Joel Edgerton (\u201cAttack of the Clones,\u201d \u201cRevenge of the Sith\u201d)
Luke\u2019s moisture-farming, humorless uncle Owen Lars was young once, but he was never not a guy who stood around a crappy homestead on Tatooine. In the prequel movies, the role was picked up by Joel Edgerton of \u201cLoving\u201d and \u201cThe Great Gatsby.\u201d
Bai Ling (\u201cRevenge of the Sith\u201d)
Bai Ling actually doesn\u2019t appear in \u201cRevenge of the Sith,\u201d but she was supposed to. Her scene as Senator Bana Breemu was cut from the film. But there are things you definitely have seen her in, including \u201cCrank: High Voltage,\u201d \u201cThe Crow\u201d and \u201cEntourage.\u201d
Keisha Castle-Hughes (\u201cRevenge of the Sith\u201d)
Sometime after Padm\u00e9\u2019s term as queen had ended by \u201cRevenge of the Sith,\u201d the wise people of Naboo apparently elected another teenager queen: Queen Apailana, played by Keisha Castle-Hughes. Apailana is seen at Padm\u00e9\u2019s funeral, and Castle-Hughes is known for \u201cThe Whale Rider\u201d and appearing on \u201cThe Walking Dead.\u201d
Simon Pegg (\u201cThe Force Awakens\u201d)
Another secret cameo, Pegg is covered in alien costume work as the junk dealer Unkar Plutt on Jakku. He\u2019s the guy who gives Rei less than what her salvage is probably worth.
Bill Hader and Ben Schwartz (\u201cThe Force Awakens\u201d)
You\u2019d think the last thing a droid like BB-8 would require is a voice, given that he\u2019s a robot and speaks in bleeps and bloops. But to get the sound and personality just right, director J. Abrams enlisted comedians Bill Hader (formerly of \u201cSNL\u201d) and Ben Schwartz (well-known for playing Jean-Ralphio on \u201cParks and Rec\u201d).
Thomas Brodie-Sangster (\u201cThe Force Awakens\u201d)
\u201cGame of Thrones\u201d might have noticed a familiar First Order officer during shots of the bridge of the Starkiller Base. It was Jojen Reed, Bran Stark\u2019s loyal friend, who also plays Newt in the \u201cMaze Runner\u201d franchise.
Daniel Craig (\u201cThe Force Awakens\u201d)
It was something of a news item at the time, but James Bond slipped in a secret cameo in the first \u201cStar Wars\u201d film in a decade \u2014 as a stormtrooper. He\u2019s the guard that Rei manages to Jedi mind trick into releasing her.
Billie Lourd (\u201cThe Force Awakens\u201d)
Billie Lourd sneaked into Lucasfilm\u2019s revival of \u201cStar Wars\u201d as Lt. Connix, one of the Resistance fighters running tactical machinery in the base of General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). Known for her hilarious turn as Chanel No. 3 on the horror-comedy series \u201cScream Queens,\u201d she\u2019s also Fisher\u2019s daughter.
Harriet Walter (\u201cThe Force Awakens\u201d)
Playing a Resistance medic who helps out Chewbacca, \u201cDownton Abbey\u201d alumna Harriet Walter gets a short but sweet cameo in \u201cThe Force Awakens.\u201d She actually has one of the movie\u2019s funnier moments as she talks to Chewie about how scary his ordeal must have been.
Rian Johnson (\u201cRogue One\u201d)
The director of 2017\u2019s \u201cThe Last Jedi\u201d actually made a cameo in 2016\u2019s \u201cRogue One\u201d along with producer Ram Bergman as members of the gunner crew of the Death Star.
Justin Theroux (\u201cThe Last Jedi\u201d)
Casting \u201cThe Leftovers\u201d star Justin Theroux as the unnamed super-great slicer Finn and Rose are looking for is a fun cameo that winds up being a misdirection and a fun joke. Instead, the pair find Benicio del Toro\u2019s DJ to take over the job.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (\u201cThe Last Jedi\u201d)
Director Rian Johnson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt collaborated on the 2005 movie \u201cBrick,\u201d the director\u2019s first feature-length movie. JGL makes the most of their friendship by voicing an alien in the \u201cStar Wars\u201d universe called Slowen Lo, a riff on the Beastie Boys song \u201cSlow & Low.\u201d He\u2019s the guy who\u2019s really upset about Finn and Rose\u2019s bad parking job.
Tom Hardy (\u201cThe Last Jedi\u201d)
Taking a page from Daniel Craig\u2019s cameo in \u201cThe Force Awakens,\u201d Tom Hardy grabbed a stormtrooper uniform to appear in \u201cThe Last Jedi.\u201d His scene (which also featured Princes William and Harry) was deleted, unfortunately, but it finds him in an elevator with an incognito Finn, Rose and DJ as they sneak around the First Order ship midway through the movie. Hardy\u2019s trooper recognizes Finn and congratulates him on the promotion his uniform suggests, even giving him a supportive smack on the butt.
Ralph Ineson (\u201cThe Last Jedi\u201d)
Another famous face appearing in the deleted sequence aboard the First Order ship is Ralph Ineson, star of \u201cThe Witch.\u201d He plays an officer who immediately recognizes that Finn and Rose don\u2019t belong. He pops up later with a detachment of stormtroopers to catch the impostors for real.
Gareth Edwards (\u201cThe Last Jedi\u201d)
Edwards gave Rian Johnson a cameo in \u201cRogue One,\u201d so the director repaid the favor by making Edwards one of the Resistance troopers standing their ground on Crait. He\u2019s the guy who looks incredulously at the trooper who decided to taste the ground.
Clint Howard (\u201cSolo\u201d)
Director Ron Howard\u2019s brother Clint is a well-known actor whose career goes all the back to the original \u201cStar Trek\u201d series. He pops up in a cameo role, as seen in this photo from his Twitter account, as a particularly mean guy in \u201cSolo\u201d who runs a droid fighting pit \u2014 and gets a rough talking to by Lando\u2019s droid companion, L3.
Jon Favreau (\u201cSolo\u201d)
The \u201cIron Man\u201d director and star of \u201cSwingers\u201d doesn\u2019t appear in \u201cSolo,\u201d but his voice does \u2014 he plays Rio Durant, the multi-armed member of Tobias Beckett\u2019s crew. Favreau gets to be the jokey member of the heist crew in the movie and acts as pilot, despite Han complaining that he wants the job.
Read original story 30 Actors You Probably Didn\u2019t Know Were in \u2018Star Wars\u2019 Movies (Photos) At TheWrap<\/p>\n

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