10+ Major Hollywood Celebrities That You Probably Didn't Notice Were In Star Wars Films
It doesn't need to be May the Fourth for these trivia fun facts to get you excited.
Star Wars has been a pop culture giant for decades, and part of the fun is spotting the familiar faces hidden inside the galaxy far, far away.
From stormtroopers to heavily disguised side characters, a surprising number of Hollywood celebrities have popped up in the franchise without many viewers noticing on the first watch. Some were buried under makeup, others were tucked into quick cameos, and a few were easy to miss unless you knew exactly where to look.
This list rounds up the stars you probably overlooked, and the surprises start right away.
1. Keira Knightley (Sabé)
Keira Knightley played Queen Padmé Amidala's decoy in Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Although she was only 12 years old during filming, the young actress looked eerily similar to Natalie Portman, who played the real Queen Amidala.
They looked so much alike that their own mothers couldn't distinguish who was who when they donned the full regalia. Knightley's voice was dubbed over during post-production to complete the transformation.
? Star Wars: The Phantom Menace / Lucasfilm, © Andrea Raffin / Wikipedia2. Daniel Craig (stormtrooper)
The Force Awakens and Spectre (a James Bond movie) were filmed in the same studio, and Daniel Craig wasted no time trying to score a cameo. He was very successful, but no one really noticed that 007 was under one of those helmets.
After learning that England's most powerful weapon played a stormtrooper in The Force Awakens, fans lovingly gave him the stormtrooper number JB-007. Only Daniel Craig can be a spy and a space soldier in one day.
? Star Wars: The Force Awakens / Lucasfilm, © www.GlynLowe.com / Wikipedia3. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Slowen Lo)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt voiced the character known as Slowen Lo in The Last Jedi. He warned Rose and Finn not to leave their ship on the beach because if they did, he would call the authorities.
He nabbed the cameo since he had worked with director Rian Johnson before in Looper and Brick. This was not Joseph Gordon-Levitt's first time playing a Star Wars character; he attended the premiere of The Force Awakens dressed as Yoda.
? Star Wars: The Last Jedi / Lucasfilm, © Christopher William Adach / Wikipedia
Some of these cameos were hiding in plain sight.
4. Rose Byrne (Dormé)
The actress was well-known in Australia when she got the role of Dormé in Attack of the Clones. Despite playing Padmé Amidala’s maid, the actress admits that she is not a fan of the franchise.
? Star Wars: Attack of the Clones / Lucasfilm, © Eva Rinaldi / Wikipedia
5. Simon Pegg (Unkar Plutt)
The Shaun of the Dead actor played one of the newer characters introduced in The Force Awakens. He portrayed Unkar Plutt, a junk trader who leads a group of thugs and independent contractors.
He is a huge Star Wars fan who cheekily admitted that he used his knowledge of the franchise to make some script changes to director J.J. Abrams. Pegg also voiced C-3PO in a special Phineas and Ferb episode.
? Star Wars: The Force Awakens / Lucasfilm, © Mingle MediaTV / Wikipedia
6. Jon Favreau (Rio Durant)
Jon Favreau is more than just Spider-Man's babysitter. The multitalented actor, writer, and director also voiced Pre Vizsla in the animated Clone Wars.
In Solo: A Star Wars Story, Favreau also voiced the four-handed pilot. More than that, he is also producing and writing The Mandalorian for Disney+.
? Solo: A Star Wars Story / Lucasfilm, © Eva Rinaldi / Wikipedia
7. Joel Edgerton (Owen Lars)
The Great Gatsby actor got his first acting job in Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones. He played Owen Lars, Luke Skywalker's uncle, who raised him on Tatooine.
? Star Wars: Attack of the Clones / Lucasfilm, © Gage Skidmore / Wikipedia
A few of the biggest names are easy to miss unless you already know the cast list.
And for a real-world face-off, Keir Starmer’s Iran policy defense against Donald Trump is its own kind of high-stakes decoy debate.
8. Peter Serafinowicz (Darth Maul)
Before he appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Serafinowicz played the character of Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace. He had the difficult task of portraying the antagonist in the prequel movies.
? Star Wars: The Phantom Menace / Lucasfilm, © Mingle Media TV / Wikipedia
9. Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Thanisson)
Thomas Brodie-Sangster did more than help Bran look for the Three-eyed Raven north of the Wall in Game of Thrones. The forever young-looking actor played an officer of the First Order named Thanisson in The Force Awakens.
? Star Wars: The Force Awakens / Lucasfilm, © Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
10. Justin Theroux (Maestro Descifrador)
Justin Theroux made a short-lived cameo in The Last Jedi. Finn and Rose briefly made contact with him when they were looking for a Master Codebreaker to save the Resistance fleet before getting arrested.
? Star Wars: The Last Jedi / Lucasfilm, © justintheroux / Instagram
11. Sally Hawkins (extra)
The Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actress played one of the hundreds of villagers towards the end of The Phantom Menace. Despite being a part of cinematic history, the actress admits she has never seen the film.
? Team Coco / Youtube, © Martin Kraft / Wikipedia
By this point, the franchise has turned cameo spotting into its own game.
12. Julian Glover (Maximilian Veers)
Julian Glover has been playing shady characters long before he was known to us as Grand Master Pycelle in Game of Thrones. He was also a general who worked for Darth Vader named Maximilian Veers.
? Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back / Lucasfilm, © Patrick Subotkiewiez / Wikipedia
13. Dominic West (Jerusalem Jannick)
The Wire actor's illustrious career got a jump start from playing a guard in The Phantom Menace. He portrayed Jerusalem Jannick, a guard in the palace of Naboo.
? Star Wars: The Phantom Menace / Lucasfilm, © GabboT - Pride 21 / Wikipedia
14. Treat Williams (rebel soldier)
Treat Williams was visiting his friend Carrie Fisher on the set of The Empire Strikes Back in London. He decided it would be fun to be an extra for the movie if he was permitted to do so.
His request was approved, and Williams played an alliance soldier in one of the scenes alongside Carrie Fisher. You can't easily spot him on screen, but there are photos of him in an alliance soldier uniform that Carrie Fisher treasured.
? Armando-Armandez / Reddit, © David Livingston / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
15. Prince William and Prince Harry of the United Kingdom (Stormtroopers)
In a deleted scene, the British royals donned stormtrooper uniforms in The Last Jedi. The scenes were deleted and were only included in the DVD and Blu-ray versions.
? WPA Pool / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
If there was a film franchise you should bet on that will boost your career, it's definitely Star Wars. Only a handful of A-list Hollywood celebs can boast that they once visited a galaxy far, far away.
On your next viewing of the film series, challenge yourself to try to spot these disguised characters. As always, may the Force be with you.
Some of these cameos are still easier to miss than you’d think.
Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman’s “decoy” look-alike moment has twin-energy, too, in the secret twins of your favorite stars.
