'Star Wars': The 8 Most Surprising Celebrity Appearances in the Franchise

Do you sense a disturbance in the Force? Maybe that’s because May 25 will be the 40th anniversary of the original release of Star Wars in theaters. To celebrate this auspicious occasion, we’ll be posting Star Wars stories all month, including choice vintage interviews, original videos, and some of our favorite pieces from years past. Just keep coming back here all month to see what’s happening in our galaxy.

The Star Wars universe is full of surprises, and not all of them are as dramatic as “I am your father.” Part of the fun of watching the films over and over is finding all the little details that creator George Lucas and the filmmakers hid in plain sight, including these blink-and-you’ll-miss-them celebrity cameos. Did you know, for example, that an alien from an entirely different sci-fi blockbuster had a seat on the Galactic Senate in The Phantom Menace? Or that a famous celebrity Star Wars fan, himself a director, voiced a Stormtrooper in The Force Awakens?

True, some of the stars featured here became famous post-Star Wars, including John Ratzenberger (before he pulled up his Cheers bar stool) and Keira Knightley (before she bent it like Beckham). Others came on board as deliberate Easter eggs for devoted fans, including George Lucas in his one-and-only onscreen Star Wars appearance — can you name the film? — and Daniel Craig in a disguise that would earn even James Bond’s approval. Watch the most surprising Star Wars movie appearances in the video above.

See the craziest deleted scenes from the original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy:


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