10 Actors Who Made Sure They Weren't Seen In Star Wars
Good luck spotting these devilishly well-hidden Star Wars actors.
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00:00There are a few movie franchises that just about every actor, no matter how prestigious
00:04and celebrated they might be, may want to appear in.
00:07Star Wars is definitely one of them.
00:09But it's also possible to say that many actors are simply too famous or recognisable
00:14to play a major role in Star Wars, because their sheer presence will ultimately just
00:19create a significant distraction from whatever else is happening in the movie.
00:23And so, filmmakers have playfully skirted around this by having even some of the biggest
00:27A-list stars on the planet show up in Star Wars while hidden in plain sight, ensuring
00:32they couldn't be seen.
00:33I'm Ewan, this is What Culture Star Wars, and here are 10 actors who made sure they
00:37weren't seen in Star Wars.
00:4010.
00:41Daniel Craig – Star Wars Episode VII – The Force Awakens
00:46In recent years in particular, Star Wars has had a habit of placing A-list actors underneath
00:50Stormtrooper helmets in order to grant them sneaky cameo appearances.
00:54After all, it's an easy way to let a beloved actor appear in the movie without distracting
00:59the audience through their sheer presence alone, so why the hell not?
01:02And that's absolutely what happened with Daniel Craig in The Force Awakens.
01:06He appears briefly later in the movie as a Stormtrooper who was Jedi mind-tricked by
01:10Rey into releasing her restraints and dropping his weapon.
01:13But while Craig's face categorically cannot be seen, he does indeed have a few speaking
01:18lines, as he calls Rey Scavenger Scum before vocally complying with her commands.
01:23Even so, the vocal distortion of the helmet makes it tough to make out Craig's voice
01:27unless you really know what he sounds like, ensuring this passed almost everyone by on
01:32a first sit at least.
01:349.
01:35John Leguizamo – The Mandalorian John Leguizamo is an incredibly recognisable
01:41actor, but chances are you totally missed him in The Mandalorian.
01:45In the second season's very first episode, Leguizamo lent his voice to the role of Gor
01:49Koresh, an Abyssinian gangster who attempts to double-cross Bando and ends up getting
01:53strung up by him as a result.
01:55Though Koresh was portrayed on set by puppeteer John Rosengrant, Leguizamo brought vocal life
02:00to the character in post-production.
02:018.
02:02Joseph Gordon-Levitt – Star Wars Episode VIII – The Last Jedi
02:09The moment that Rian Johnson was announced to be directing The Last Jedi, it was basically
02:13inevitable that his good friend Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be making an appearance in the movie.
02:17After all, Gordon-Levitt had either starred or cameo-ed in each of Johnson's films
02:21up to that point, enough that he'd seemingly become a good-luck charm for the director.
02:25But Gordon-Levitt's part in The Last Jedi is one you'll be hard-pressed to spot without
02:29knowing about beforehand, given that it's both a voice-only role and one that sounds
02:34nothing like his natural accent at that.
02:36The actor voices a disgruntled alien named Slow and Low on Canterbight, played on set
02:41by Dee Tales, who can be overheard complaining about Finn and Rose parking their shuttle
02:45on a nearby beach and ignoring his request to move in.
02:487.
02:49Zach Braff – Obi-Wan Kenobi
02:53Zach Braff probably isn't among the first actors you'd ever expect to see in Star
02:57Wars, which, combined with his extremely against-type voiceover performance, ensured you had near
03:03zero chance of spotting him in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+.
03:07Braff provided the voice for Frec, a Conluran transport driver who crosses paths with Kenobi
03:12and Young Leia on the planet of Mapuzo.
03:15And as much as Braff's natural voice is buried deep into the brains of anyone who
03:18spent nearly a decade watching Scrubs, he's affecting a much deeper, more alien twang
03:24here which makes him totally unrecognisable in every which way.
03:28As for how Braff, of all people, landed in the world of Star Wars, well, he won the part
03:32due to his friendship with director Deborah Chow, who directed him in the 2010 film The
03:36High Cost of Living.
03:37And rather than simply contribute voiceover from a sound booth, Braff was actually on
03:41set while Frec's scene was shot, working with Chow and Frec's costume performer,
03:46John Rosengrant again, to ensure the mouth movements matched up with Braff's mode of
03:50speech.
03:516.
03:52Tom Hardy – The Last Jedi
03:55Tom Hardy made doubly sure he wouldn't be seen in The Last Jedi, even if one of the
03:59reasons why was totally unintentional on his part.
04:02Just as Daniel Craig snagged a Stormtrooper cameo for The Force Awakens, Hardy scored
04:07one for the sequel too, playing a Stormtrooper who encounters Finn in an elevator aboard
04:11Snoke's flagship, the Supremacy.
04:14Hardy's Stormtrooper is even made out to be an old pal of Finn's, and apparently,
04:18not knowing he's defeated the resistance, congratulates him on his promotion, given
04:22that he's disguised in the duds of a First Order officer.
04:25If you're puzzled that you don't remember this scene, well, that's because Rian Johnson
04:29ultimately cut it out of the theatrical version, and it could only be viewed as a deleted scene
04:33on The Last Jedi's home video release.
04:35All the same, even if Hardy's scene did end up making the cut, he's rocking such
04:39a ridiculously exaggerated, cartoonish Southern American accent that few would figure out
04:44it was him regardless.
04:465.
04:48Bill Hader and Ben Schwartz – The Force Awakens
04:52Comedian-actors Bill Hader and Ben Schwartz received rather unorthodox credits on The
04:56Force Awakens, not for voicing alien creatures, but acting as vocal consultants for droid
05:02BB-8.
05:03The pair were called in by J.J. Abrams to provide all that wah-wah-wah for BB-8, which
05:07were then digitally manipulated to sound more droid-like and less, well, human, literally
05:12guaranteeing the pair couldn't be recognised.
05:15Hader recently downplayed his work on the film, calling Abrams sweet for giving him
05:20a credit, even though none of his original voiceover work was used in the film, only
05:24his vocalisations into a digital talkbox.
05:274.
05:29Kevin Smith – The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker
05:33There aren't many bigger Star Wars fans on the planet than the Nerd Supreme himself,
05:37Kevin Smith, who managed to get invited to the set of The Force Awakens and The Rise
05:40of Skywalker through his friendship with J.J. Abrams.
05:44More to the point, Smith ended up having minor roles in both films, forever cementing himself
05:48within the very mythology he loved so much.
05:51In The Force Awakens, Smith provided a voiceover-only role, voicing a Stormtrooper who reacts to
05:56incoming Resistance fighters by saying,
05:58We have incoming at 2-8.6, move!
06:00But for The Rise of Skywalker, Smith got to actually play a part on screen, and physically
06:05appeared in the final movie, albeit under a thick disguise.
06:09Smith portrayed a bundled-up resident of Kijimi when Poe skulks around its streets, getting
06:13screen time of around just a second.
06:173.
06:18Jason Sudeikis – The Mandalorian
06:20Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis snagged a quite brilliant cameo role in the final episode
06:25of The Mandalorian's first season, playing one of two scout troopers tasked with keeping
06:29possession of Grogu, the other trooper being played by comedian Adam Pally.
06:33Neither Sudeikis nor Pally removed their helmets, but spent most of their screen time bantering
06:38and bickering, all while each also delivering a punch to Grogu in an attempt to pacify him.
06:43Take that, you goddamn scene-show-stealing green blob.
06:48Their chit-chat during the sequence is hysterical, and adds a welcome dose of personality to
06:53an otherwise anonymous class of characters, while Sudeikis' voice is concealed just
06:57enough by the helmet's microphone that it's incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to
07:01figure out that it's actually him.
07:03Hilariously, Sudeikis shot the scene so far in advance of it being aired that he totally
07:07forgot that he punched Grogu, and was caught totally off-guard when he went viral on Twitter
07:11the same day the episode was released.
07:142.
07:15Simon Pegg – The Force Awakens
07:18While every other actor on this list who played an alien creature didn't also perform the
07:22part on set, Simon Pegg both voiced and portrayed Jakku Junk Dealer Unkar Plutt in The Force
07:27Awakens, but you'd never know it.
07:29For starters, Pegg wore a large costume complete with a mask covering his face, and because
07:34the mask wasn't articulated enough, it was also digitally enhanced in post-production,
07:38further erasing any facial features which might make Pegg recognisable.
07:43And as for the voice?
07:44Well, it's totally unrecognisable from Pegg's usual speaking voice, enough to suggest that
07:48it was maybe digitally deepened in post-production.
07:51As memorable as Plutt's line of one-quarter-portion to Rey actually is, there are no tells whatsoever
07:57that we're actually looking at Simon Pegg sweating his arse off in a giant suit in the
08:01Abu Dhabi desert.
08:02Oh, and another fun fact by the way, Pegg also filmed a scene where Chewbacca rips off
08:07one of Plutt's arms, but it was sadly cut from the final release.
08:10It was, however, mercifully included on the home video release, and it is glorious.
08:171.
08:18Karl Urban Star Wars Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker
08:23And finally, we have one of the coolest actors working today, the boy star Karl Urban, who
08:27managed to leverage his long-time friendship with J.J. Abrams from working together on
08:31Star Trek to wrangle a part on Star Wars.
08:34According to Urban, Abrams invited him onto the set while shooting The Rise of Skywalker
08:38and dressed him up as a Stormtrooper, which, in the modest understatement of the century,
08:42he called a quote, really fun day on set.
08:45Specifically, Urban played one of two Stormtroopers who turns to watch the Knights of Ren as they
08:49march through a hallway, and if you listen closely, you can even be heard saying, Knights
08:53of Ren.
08:54All the same, it's nowhere near enough for anyone to pick Urban out in the scene, which
08:59was obviously the intention all along.
09:01And like that, Urban joined the small class of actors who've appeared in both Star Trek
09:05and Star Wars.
09:06Evidently, J.J. Abrams is a cool friend to have, especially if you dominate Monaghan,
09:10in which case, you'll be in everything.
09:13And those were 10 actors who made sure they weren't seen in Star Wars.
09:17What have your favourite cameos in the galaxy far, far away been?
09:19Shout them out down in the comments below, as I know there were a bunch that didn't
09:22make the cut here.
09:23Once you've done that, please be sure to drop the video a like if you enjoyed it, and
09:25subscribe to Wild Culture Star Wars too, so you don't miss another upload.
09:28Either way, thank you all for watching, I've been Obi-Wan Kenobi, and until next time,
09:32may the Force be with you, bye!