James Bond star Daniel Craig discussed how he ended up cameoing in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Audiences watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015 scratched their heads when they heard a familiar-sounding stormtrooper becoming the subject of Rey’s first (and successful) attempt at using a Jedi mind trick. It turned out that the easily duped stormtrooper was none other than James Bond star Daniel Craig, who popped into the Star Wars film for a quick cameo.
Years after Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ release, Daniel Craig opened up about how the cameo came into fruition. During a BAFTA (via The Daily Express) retrospective on his stint as James Bond, Craig reflected on how the Star Wars cameo came about.
“I think we were doing Spectre, and all of our crew were on Star Wars. Ben Dixon, who was our seconding (Second Assistant Director), a great lovely man Ben Dixon, he was on seconding and I kind of went to, I had to go into Pinewood to, I don’t know what I had to go to Pinewood for, to do some fitting or something.
And I said to Ben, I said, ‘part for me?”. And he was like, ‘are you serious?’ I was like, ‘yeah.’ And he went, ‘I’ll go ask J.J.’ And he came back and said, ‘yeah.’”
While Daniel Craig expected a quick, small cameo, he was surprised to discover that director J. J. Abrams had given him an extensive speaking role.
“Thing was, I thought ‘background stormtrooper.’ I mean, I wanted to do that guy that bumps his head in the original one, you know that person who drops his lightsaber or something.
“Then I was in a whole f***ing scene, I was like, ‘OK!’ And we did the scene and then I just thought they’ll loop me, they’ll put another voice on it, you know. Then I had to spend like three hours with JJ on a looping session like doing all the dialogues. Like, ‘really, you want me to do this? Get someone else to do this!’”
Daniel Craig was the first of many celebrity cameos in the sequel Star Wars trilogy. Director Kevin Smith and composer Michael Giacchino also appeared in The Force Awakens, while Rogue One featured a cameo from The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson. Tom Hardy was also set to cameo in The Last Jedi but it didn’t end up coming into fruition.
Here is the official synopsis for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker:
Lucasfilm and director J. J. Abrams join forces once again to take viewers on an epic journey to a galaxy far, far away with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the riveting conclusion of the seminal Skywalker saga, where new legends will be born and the final battle for freedom is yet to come.
Directed by J. J. Abrams, the film stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, Keri Russell, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Ian McDiarmid, and Billy Dee Williams. The late Carrie Fisher appears as General Leia Organa by using previously unreleased footage shot for The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is available on Digital HD, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-Ray, and DVD. Stay tuned for all the latest news on Daniel Craig and Star Wars, and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content!
Source: BAFTA (via The Daily Express)
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