20 Actors You Forgot Were in Star Wars

May the Fourth Be With You dear reader! Many well known actors have appeared in the Star Wars franchise. Some were already big when they made their appearance and others got their big break from appearing in the galaxy far far away. But some actors made appearances so small we forgot about them.

Daniel Craig- The James Bond actor also known for his appearances in the ‘Knives Out’ films made a cameo appearance in The Force Awakens as Stormtrooper FN-1824, the trooper who Rey uses the Force on aboard the First Order ship. Feels like a real missed opportunity to not be Stormtrooper FN-007, but I digress.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt- JGL made a cameo appearance in The Last Jedi, providing the voice of Slowen Lo. Director Rian Johnson & Gordon-Levitt are good friends with the latter appearing in all of the former’s projects. He had the starring roles in ‘Brick’ & ‘Looper’ and has made cameos in all of Johnson’s other films.

Prince William & Prince Harry- The Dukes of Cambridge & Sussex also made cameo appearances in The Last Jedi as stormtroopers. I guess that’s kind of cool that the future King of England played a stormtrooper?

Gary Barlow- Probably unknown to my fellow Americans, but Barlow is the lead singer of British boy band ‘Take That.’ He had a cameo role as a stormtrooper, again in The Last Jedi. This feels like a good place to mention that Tom Hardy also had a cameo, but it was cut so he doesn’t make my list.

Jason Sudeikis- The SNL alum and star of ‘Ted Lasso’ made a cameo on ‘The Mandalorian’ as Bike Scout Trooper #1. He is one of the scout troopers that appears in the Season 1 finale and actually hits Grogu AKA Baby Yoda.

Keira Knightley- It is well known that Knightley & actress Natalie Portman look very similar. Star Wars used this to it’s advantage by having Knightley play Sabé. The character is one of Queen Amidala’s handmaidens and the one who serves as the characters decoy when Padmé is trying to be incognito in The Phantom Menace. This was of course before her career took off with ‘Bend It Like Beckham,’ ‘Love Actually,’ & ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean’ films.

Keisha Castle-Hughes- In Revenge of the Sith, a new queen has been elected in Naboo and that queen, Apailana, is played by Keisha Castle-Hughes. The actress is known for her Oscar-nominated role in ‘Whale Rider’ and also played Obara Sand, one of the bastard daughters of Oberyn Martell (played by Mando himself, Pedro Pascal). Castle-Hughes later took on a voice role in The Bad Batch as Emerie Karr in 11 episodes.

John Ratzenberger- Pixar’s lucky charm, the actor has voiced characters in many of Pixar’s most popular films & is also known for his role as Cliff in ‘Cheers.’ But before he all that he played the Hoth rebel, Major Derlin in The Empire Strikes Back.

Treat Williams- Another actor who made an early appearance in Empire is Treat Williams. Before he was a Golden Globe & Emmy nominee, Williams made a minor appearance as Echo Base Trooper Jess Allashane. If you’re impressed his small role had a name, remember this is Star Wars and basically EVERY character has a name.

Tony Cox- The main Ewok we meet in Return of the Jedi is Wicket W. Warrick, played by Warwick Davis. However another memorable Ewok is Wily Warrick, Wicket’s baby brother, who is played by Tony Cox. Cox is mostly known for his roles in ‘Beetlejuice,’ ‘Bad Santa,’ & ‘Friday.’

Dominic West- Before his Emmy & Golden Globe nominations for ‘The Wire’ & ‘The Crown,’ West appeared as Jerus Jannick in The Phantom Menace. Jannick was a palace guard on Naboo.

Sofia Coppola- The daughter of the legendary Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia made her debut role as an infant in ‘The Godfather.’ She would later become known as a director for films like ‘The Virgin Suicides,’ ‘Marie Antoinette,’ & ‘Priscilla.’ She made her Star Wars appearance in The Phantom Menace, as Padmé’s handmaiden, Saché.

Richard Armitage- The actor that would eventually become known for his role as Thorin in ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy, Armitage appeared as a Naboo fighter pilot in The Phantom Menace. And that’s how you know it’s a small role, he doesn’t even have a name.

Rose Byrne- Padmé’s court was full of stars. In Attack of the Clones, Byrne appears as Dormé, the former queen’s trusted confidant. The Aussie actress would become known for her roles in ‘Bridesmaids,’ ‘Neighbors,’ & ‘X-Men: First Class.’

Simon Pegg- One of the bigger roles on the list, you may just not have known this was Pegg since his face doesn’t appear. But Pegg plays Unkar Plutt in The Force Awakens. Plutt is a junker who employs Rey and houses the Millenium Falcon until it is stolen by she & Finn.

Jodie Comer- Another character who appears on Jakku is Miramir, Rey’s mother, who we meet in a flashback. That character is played by Comer, who would become well known for her role in ‘Killing Eve.’

Lin-Manuel Miranda- The insanely talented Miranda has created Broadway shows like ‘In the Heights’ & ‘Hamilton.’ He has written songs for Disney movies ‘Moana’ & ‘Encanto.’ He has won Emmys, Grammys, Tonys, Olivier Awards, & a Pulitzer. And he made a cameo in The Force Awakens as Shag Kava, a band at Maz Kanata’s castle. But wait, there’s more! He also appeared in The Rise of Skywalker as a Resistance soldier. He also was a special featured composer & lyricist on both films.

John Williams- Now you probably knew that John Williams had a hand in the Star Wars films. He wrote the iconic scores for all 9 films, being one of the few constants throughout the saga. He made a cameo in the final film as Oma Tres, a bartender on Kijimi.

John Leguizamo- Though his face never appears, if you watch season 2 episode 1 of The Mandalorian, you will quickly recognize the voice of Gor Koresh as Leguizamo. But you have to recognize the gangster’s voice quick because he is not onscreen very long before he is killed by Mando.

John Wayne- You’re probably looking at me crazy right now. But yes THAT John Wayne appears in Star Wars. The character of Garindan, AKA Longsnoot, an Imperial spy on Tatooine is voiced by John Wayne, using heavily synthesized audio recordings from the actor’s previous works. This is technically the actors’ final film credit.