Remember when Lizzo and Jack Black showed up in The Mandalorian?
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00:00Whether you absolutely adored red-hot chili peppers clashing with Jedi, or could have
00:04done without a Hamilton star surprisingly popping up in the closing stages of the Skywalker
00:10saga, one thing is certain, each of these Star Wars appearances were all random as hell.
00:15So I am Gareth here from WhatCulture Star Wars and here are 10 of the most random Star
00:20Wars appearances.
00:2110.
00:22Mercedes Monet puts on some Beskar – The Mandalorian
00:27While a professional wrestler suddenly deciding to give this acting stuff a try isn't exactly
00:32anything new, that still didn't change the fact that seeing now-former WWE star Sasha
00:36Banks slash Mercedes Monet sharing the screen with various Mandalorians during Disney Plus'
00:42second season of the hit Star Wars show was about as bizarre as it gets.
00:46Not only was this the first time a wrestler had been involved in the galaxy far, far away,
00:51the star's turn as Koska Reeves was actually Mercedes Venado's acting debut too.
00:56And despite the majority of WWE fans around the globe quickly shouting, huh, that's
01:00Sasha Banks, at their TVs during her first few minutes of screen time, the boss very
01:05quickly settled into life as a badass Mandalorian, even giving the mighty Boba Fett a run for
01:10his money during Chapter 16, The Rescue.
01:14Even with the crossover star now very much being part of the Star Wars furniture, after
01:18appearing in Season 3 as well though, seeing a former Smackdown and Raw Women's Champion
01:23blasting around the galaxy in Beskar will never not be surreal.
01:279.
01:28Flea Kidnaps Leia – Obi-Wan Kenobi Unlike the multi-talented Mercedes Venado,
01:34Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea had actually shown up in his fair share of other big and
01:39small screen projects in his time before randomly stepping into the worlds of Jedi and Stormtroopers.
01:45Along with playing himself on a number of occasions, the typically topless rockstar
01:49has appeared in everything from Damien Chazelle's Babylon to The Wild Thornberry's over the
01:53years.
01:54But that still couldn't prepare folks for his creepy appearance in Disney Plus' recent
01:59Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
02:01With the musician playing a slimy bounty hunter by the name of Vect Nokru for a few episodes,
02:06Nokru would go on to kidnap none other than a young Princess Leia during his brief time
02:11in the galaxy far, far away, before getting mercilessly cut down by the Grand Inquisitor.
02:17Very few likely had Flea holding a lightsaber on their Star Wars bingo card heading into
02:212022.
02:22What a life, eh?
02:248.
02:25A Royal Set of Stormtroopers – Episode VIII, The Last Jedi
02:29After deciding one day to stop by the set of The Last Jedi back in 2016, Prince William
02:34and Harry secretly filmed cameos for the then-incoming Episode VIII, and their scene reportedly boasted
02:40the most random collection of Stormtroopers imaginable.
02:44Alongside the Harry and William, The Dark Knight Rises star Tom Hardy and Take That
02:48singer Gary Barlow also both donned the iconic white armour for a scene that ultimately didn't
02:54make it into the theatrical cut.
02:56However, the no-doubt absurd situation that the likes of John Boyega, Benicio Del Toro
03:01and Kelly Marie Tran found themselves in the middle of was eventually released when the
03:05film dropped on Blu-ray.
03:07Hardy was the only trooper to utter a few lines in the ridiculous sequence, boasting
03:11a distinctly southern accent in the clip, with the royal lads apparently being stood
03:15on either side of Finn during the tense exchange.
03:19You will never find a more random elevator stuffed full of royalty, musicians and British
03:23acting talent.
03:247.
03:25James Bond Pops Up As FN-1824 – Episode VII, The Force Awakens
03:31That lot weren't the only well-known British faces who managed to oddly wiggle their way
03:35into a sequel trilogy film, with a guy who knows a thing or two about holding a weapon
03:41also asking if he could make his Star Wars dreams come true when The Force Awakens was
03:45in production.
03:46After showing up to Pinewood for a costume fitting one day, 007 actor Daniel Craig simply
03:51asked Episode VII assistant director Ben Dixon if he could get a part in J.J. Abrams' movie.
03:57And just like that, he was in.
03:59Smooth, Mr Bond.
04:01One day later, he was dressed up as a First Order stormtrooper and being Jedi mind-tricked
04:06by Rey.
04:07With the majority of folks not even clocking the fact James Bond himself had just been
04:11bizarrely fooled into dropping his weapon before their very eyes when watching the movie
04:15for the first time, Craig would even tell the happy-sad-confused podcast that he wanted
04:20to keep his rather random appearances going, with the Brits jokingly claiming he asked
04:24to be in the next two but it didn't happen.
04:276.
04:28E.T. Phones The Senate – Episode I, The Phantom Menace
04:33Long before the likes of 007, Bane and the bloke who sang Never Forget were strangely
04:37sneaking into a Star Wars scene, George Lucas opted to throw a little nod to one of his
04:42pals Steven Spielberg into the Phantom Menace.
04:45Queen Amidala's decision to cast a vote of no confidence during Episode I is eventually
04:50followed by the sight of a couple of alien species within the Senate Rotunda reacting
04:55to the announcement.
04:56And it's during this moment when a pretty familiar-looking set of beings can be spotted
05:01waving their arms around at the news.
05:03The surprising appearance of these members of the extraterrestrial species here was Lucas'
05:08way of returning the favour to Spielberg after his fellow legendary director had chucked
05:13more than a few Star Wars easter eggs into his movies over the years.
05:17But rather than find a way to make these little guys a proper part of the galaxy far, far
05:21away going forward though, the fact Lucas and eventually Disney would barely ever allude
05:26to their existence in this universe again only makes these brief E.T. cameos feel even
05:31more random.
05:325.
05:33Jack Black and Lizzo show up on Pleasure 15, The Mandalorian
05:38Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze take a trip to a planet by the name of Pleasure 15 during
05:43the third season of The Mandalorian, and it's here where the two bump into a number of unexpected
05:48faces.
05:49While the majority of Mando fans would likely agree that seeing the sci-fi legend that is
05:54back to the future's Christopher Lloyd steal a few scenes as the planet's head
05:58of security Hellgate was a pleasing enough surprise for those who weren't made aware
06:02of his casting beforehand, the same unfortunately could not be said for another set of cameos.
06:08Though many were quick to point out how they loved both comedy sensation Jack Black and
06:13music superstar Lizzo, there were viewers that felt their jarring appearances as the
06:17eccentric Captain Bombardier and the Duchess of Pleasure 15 respectively were a bit too
06:23distracting during Chapter 22, Guns for Hire, and a piece of stunt casting gone wrong.
06:29Both stars did at least seem to be having a blast sharing a few scenes with the Mandalorians
06:33and Grogu, but their very much random arrivals definitely divided the folks in this galaxy
06:38not so far away.
06:404.
06:41Justin Theroux becomes a punchline, Episode 8, The Last Jedi
06:46In the lead-up to the release of Episode 8, it was reported that Justin Theroux had been
06:49cast in a small but rather important role in Rian Johnson's movie, with the Mulholland
06:54Drive actor playing an expert slicer who would boast a pivotal moment in the tale.
07:00And sure enough, as Finn and Rose search for the codebreaker the Resistance so desperately
07:04need in their 2017 flick, they find Theroux's slicer in Canto Bight's casino.
07:10But instead of ultimately working with this particular codebreaker, the pair end up being
07:13thrown out of the establishment before teaming up with Benicio Del Toro's DJ, and Theroux's
07:19master codebreaker was never seen again.
07:21This wasn't always the plan though.
07:23According to Theroux himself a little later down the road, his character was reduced over
07:27the course of finalising the story, with Johnson eventually telling him a few years after initially
07:32calling the actor to talk about the role, that this part was essentially a cameo and
07:37sort of a punchline now.
07:39Theroux was still happy to play in the Star Wars sandbox though, even if his eventual
07:43white-suited presence in the picture ended up feeling incredibly random when all was
07:47said and done.
07:483.
07:49Lin-Manuel Miranda's Late Cameo – Episode 9, The Rise of Skywalker
07:54Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda actually managed to make his presence felt in the galaxy
07:59far, far away a few years before his somewhat random appearance towards the end of The Rise
08:04of Skywalker.
08:05Back when JJ Abrams was creating The Force Awakens, the masterful songwriter wrote the
08:10tune heard in Maz Kanata's castle, and he also ended up creating some new music for
08:14Episode 9 too.
08:16So it's not actually that hard to see why Abrams decided to throw a little Miranda cameo
08:21into his Skywalker saga ending picture in the end.
08:24What makes the brief appearance feel a bit strange though, is the fact that Miranda's
08:28very much visible for a few moments resistance pilot, according to Wookieepedia, was never
08:33seen in any other scene involving said resistance outside of the victory celebration in Episode
08:389.
08:40Maybe he was just one of the random soldiers who showed up to aid the good guys in their
08:43exegol fight for the galaxy.
08:46Either way, there's no denying that seeing the unmistakable talent briefly on screen
08:50here was pretty surprising, especially for Miranda himself.
08:54With the Tony Award winning star admitting on X before the film released that his time
08:58on set was,
08:59"...one of the best days of my life to watch the magic happen, but I'm pretty sure I'm
09:04not in it."
09:05It was nice of Abrams to not throw away his shot.
09:082.
09:09Ahmed Bess' Unexpected Return – The Mandalorian
09:14Seeing a well-known celebrity oddly show up in a Star Wars project out of nowhere is one
09:18thing, but witnessing a star who has actually appeared in the galaxy before, randomly returning
09:23in a massively unexpected role, is enough to leave your mind well and truly blown.
09:28Recently, none other than the star who once helped bring one of the most groundbreaking
09:32and very much divisive characters in movie history to screens, Ahmed Bess, shockingly
09:37made his epic Star Wars comeback in the third season of The Mandalorian.
09:42Surprising his Jedi Temple Challenge role of Master Keller and Beck, it was sensationally
09:46revealed that Bess Jedi was actually responsible for saving Rogu at the Jedi Temple during
09:51Order 66.
09:53Not a person alive had Beck on their radar as the person who helped this child escape
09:58the incoming clone troopers during this dark time in Jedi history.
10:02But after being on the receiving end of a ton of hate for his work as the bumbling Gungan
10:06Jar Jar Binks over the years, watching the prequel star be sent some long overdue love
10:11for this unanticipated cameo, was a joy to behold.
10:151.
10:16Andy Serkis surprisingly returns and steals the show, Andor
10:21Another talented thespian who first appeared in this galaxy far, far away as a digitally
10:25created being, the mesmerising Andy Serkis famously played the formidable and abruptly
10:30chopped in half Supreme Leader Snoke in the sequel trilogy.
10:34So it was safe to assume this iconic Gollum, King Kong and Caesar Starr's days of appearing
10:39in the Star Wars universe were probably over, even if Serkis himself seemed open to the
10:44idea of returning as the Force-sensitive Palpatine Strancast.
10:48Then in a move that caught just about every Star Wars lover on the planet off guard, Serkis
10:53only went and suddenly stole the whole damn Andor show last year, playing the part of
10:58Keno Loy in the Narkina 5, Nobody's Listening and One Way Out episodes.
11:04Serkis was actually a little unsure about the idea of randomly popping back up as a
11:08different Star Wars character though, telling THR how his time as Snoke left him worrying
11:13that some fans may flip out and wonder what the hell is going on and assume there's
11:17some sort of link there.
11:19But after that initial shock of seeing the great actor back on their screens as an entirely
11:23different Star Wars face had worn off, fans happily sat back and watched the world-class
11:27performer produce arguably one of the strongest and most compelling performances in Star Wars
11:33history.
11:34And that's our list!
11:35Know of any other seriously random Star Wars appearances that we've missed?
11:38Well let us know all about them in the comments section right down below and don't forget
11:41to like, share and click on that subscribe button while you're down there.
11:45Also if you like this sort of thing then please head on over to whatculture.com and find some
11:48more fantastic articles just like the one this video you're watching right now is
11:51based on.
11:52I've been Gareth from WhatCulture Star Wars, may the Force be with you as always, thank
11:56you very much for watching today and hopefully we'll see you soon.
11:59Bye bye!