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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. Star Wars is definitely one of them.
00:09But it's also possible to say that many actors are simply too famous or recognisable to play a
00:15major role in Star Wars, because their sheer presence will ultimately just create a significant
00:20distraction from whatever else is happening in the movie. And so filmmakers have playfully skirted
00:25around this by having even some of the biggest A-list stars on the planet show up in Star Wars
00:29while
00:30hidden in plain sight, ensuring they couldn't be seen. I'm Ewan, this is WODCulture Star Wars,
00:35and here are 10 actors who made sure they weren't seen in Star Wars.
00:4010. Daniel Craig – Star Wars Episode 7 – The Force Awakens
00:45In 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. After all,
00:55it's an easy way to let a beloved actor appear in the movie without distracting the audience
00:59through their sheer presence alone, so why the hell not? And that's absolutely what happened
01:04with Daniel Craig in The Force Awakens. He appears briefly later in the movie as a Stormtrooper who
01:09was Jedi mind-tricked by Rey into releasing her restraints and dropping his weapon. But while
01:13Craig's face categorically cannot be seen, he does indeed have a few speaking lines, as he calls Rey
01:19a scavenger scum, before vocally complying with her commands. Even so, the vocal distortion of
01:25the helmet makes it tough to make out Craig's voice unless you really know what he sounds like,
01:30ensuring this passed almost everyone by on a first sit at least.
01:349. John Leguizamo – The Mandalorian
01:38John Leguizamo is an incredibly recognisable actor, but chances are you totally missed him in
01:43The Mandalorian. In the second season's very first episode, Leguizamo lent his voice to the role of
01:49Gore Koresh, an Abyssin gangster who attempts to double-cross Mando and ends up getting strung up
01:54by him as a result. Though Koresh was portrayed on set by puppeteer John Rosengrant, Leguizamo brought
01:59vocal life to the character in post-production.
02:038. Joseph Gordon-Levitt – Star Wars Episode 8 – The Last Jedi
02:08The moment that Rian Johnson was announced to be directing The Last Jedi, it was basically
02:12inevitable that his good friend Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be making an appearance in the movie.
02:17After all, Gordon-Levitt had either starred or cameoed in each of Johnson's films up to that point,
02:22enough that he'd soon become a good-look charm for the director.
02:25But Gordon-Levitt's part in The Last Jedi is one you'll be hard-pressed to spot without knowing
02:29about beforehand, given that it's both a voice-only role and one that sounds nothing like his natural
02:35accent at that. The actor voices a disgruntled alien named Slow and Low on Counter-Bite,
02:40played on set by details, who can be overheard complaining about Finn and Rose parking their
02:45shuttle on the nearby beach and ignoring his request to move in.
02:497. Zack Braff – Obi-Wan Kenobi
02:53Zack Braff probably isn't among the first actors you'd ever expect to see in Star Wars, which combined
02:58with this extremely against-type voiceover performance, ensured you had near zero chance of spawning him
03:04in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+. Braff provided the voice for Freck,
03:09a Conlaren transport driver who crosses paths with Kenobi and Young Leia on the planet of Mapuzo.
03:14And as much as Braff's natural voice is buried deep into the brains of anyone who spent nearly a
03:19decade watching Scrubs, he's affecting a much deeper, more alien twang here which makes him
03:25totally unrecognisable in every which way. As for how Braff of all people landed in the world of
03:30Star Wars, he won the part due to his friendship with director Deborah Chow, who directed him in
03:34the 2010 film, The High Cost of Living. And rather than simply contribute voiceover from a sound booth,
03:40Braff was actually on set while Freck's scene was shot, working with Chow and Freck's costume performer,
03:46John Rosengrant again, to ensure the mouth movements matched up with Braff's mode of speech.
03:516. Tom Hardy – The Last Jedi
03:55Tom Hardy made doubly sure he wouldn't be seen in The Last Jedi, even if one of the reasons why
04:00was
04:00totally unintentional on his part. Just as Daniel Craig snagged a Stormtrooper cameo for The Force
04:05Awakens, Hardy scored one for the sequel too, playing a Stormtrooper who encounters Finn in an
04:10elevator aboard Snoke's flagship, The Supremacy. Hardy's Stormtrooper is even made out to be an
04:16old pal of Finn's, and apparently, not knowing he's defended to the Resistance, congratulates him
04:21on his promotion, given that he's disguised in the duds of a First Order officer. If you're puzzled
04:26that you don't remember the scene, that's because Rian Johnson ultimately cut it out of the theatrical
04:30version, and it could only be viewed as a deleted scene on 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 a ridiculously
04:41exaggerated cartoonish Southern American accent that few would figure out it was him regardless.
04:465. Bill Hader and Ben Schwartz – The Force Awakens
04:51Comedian actors Bill Hader and Ben Schwartz received rather unorthodox credits on The Force
04:57Awakens, not for voicing alien creatures, but acting as vocal consultants for Droid BB-8.
05:03The pair were called in by JJ Abrams to provide all that
05:06for BB-8, which were then digitally manipulated to sound more droid-like and less, well,
05:11human, literally guaranteeing the pair couldn't be recognised.
05:15Hader recently downplayed his work on the film though,
05:18calling Abrams sweet for giving him a credit even though none of his original voiceover work
05:22was used in the film, only his vocalisations into a digital talkbox.
05:284. Kevin 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 Kevin Smith,
05:38who managed to get invited to the set of The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker
05:41through his friendship with JJ Abrams. More to the point, Smith ended up having minor roles in both
05:47films, forever cementing himself within the very mythology he loves 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 28.6. Move!
06:00But for The Rise of Skywalker, Smith got to actually play a part on screen,
06:04and physically appeared in the final movie, albeit under a thick disguise.
06:09Smith portrayed a bundled-up resident of Kijimi when Poe skulks around its streets,
06:13getting screentime of around just a second.
06:163. Jason Sudeikis – The Mandalorian
06:20Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis snagged a quite brilliant cameo role in the final episode of
06:25The Mandalorian's first season, playing one of two scout troopers tasked with keeping possession
06:30of Grogu, the other trooper being played by comedian Adam Pally. Neither Sudeikis nor Pally
06:35removed their helmets, but spent most of their screentime bantering and bickering,
06:39all while each also delivering a punch to Grogu in an attempt to pacify him. Take that,
06:44you goddamn scene-show-stealin' green blob. The chitchat during the sequence is hysterical,
06:50and adds a welcome dose of personality to an otherwise anonymous class of characters.
06:55While Sudeikis' voice is concealed just enough by the helmet's microphone, then it's incredibly
06:59difficult, if not impossible, to figure out that it's actually him. Hilariously, Sudeikis shot the scene
07:04so far in advance of it being aired that he totally forgot that he punched Grogu, and was caught totally
07:10off-guard when he went viral on Twitter the same day the episode was released.
07:142. Simon Pegg – The Force Awakens
07:17While every other actor on this list who played an alien creature didn't also perform the part on set,
07:23Simon Pegg both voiced and portrayed Jakku junk dealer Unkar Plutt in The Force Awakens,
07:28but you'd never know it. For starters, Pegg wore a large costume, complete with a mask covering his
07:33face, and because the 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? Well, it's totally unrecognisable from Pegg's usual speaking voice,
07:47enough to suggest that it was maybe digitally deepened in post-production. As memorable as Plutt's
07:52line of one-quarter portion to Ray actually is, there are no tells whatsoever that were actually
07:58looking at Simon Pegg sweating his ass off in a giant suit in the Abu Dhabi desert.
08:02Oh, and another fun fact, by the way, Pegg also filmed a scene where Chewbacca rips off one of Plutt's
08:08arms, but it was sadly cut from the final release. It was, however,
08:11mercifully included on the home video release, and it is glorious.
08:161. Carl Urban – Star Wars Episode 9 – The Rise of Skywalker
08:22And finally, we have one of the coolest actors working today, The Boys star, Carl Urban, who
08:27might as well leverage his long-time friendship with JJ Abrams from working together on Star Trek to
08:32wrangle apart on Star Wars. According to Urban, Abrams invited him onto the set while shooting
08:37The Rise of Skywalker and dressed him up as a stormtrooper, which in the modest understatement
08:41of the century, he called a quote, really fun day on set. Specifically, Urban played one of two
08:46stormtroopers who turned towards the Knights of Ren as they marched through a hallway, and if you
08:51listen closely, he can even be heard saying Knights of Ren. All the same, it's nowhere near enough for
08:56anyone to pick Urban out in the scene, which was obviously the intention all along. And like that,
09:01Urban joined the small class of actors who've appeared in both Star Trek and Star Wars. Evidently,
09:07JJ Abrams is a cool friend to have, especially if you dominate Monaghan, in which case, you'll be in
09:11everything. And those were 10 actors who made sure they weren't seen in Star Wars. One of your favorite
09:17cameos in the galaxy far, far away being. Shout them out down in the comments below, as I know there
09:21were a
09:21bunch that didn't make the cut here. Once you've done that, please be sure to drop the video a like
09:24if you enjoyed it,
09:25and subscribe to World Culture Star Wars 2 so you don't miss another upload. Either way,
09:29thank you all for watching, I've been Obi, Ewan Kenobi, and until next time, may the force be with you.
09:33Bye!
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