Star Trekfilm series actor Karl Urban revealed he had a hidden cameo in Lucasfilm’sStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. During an interview with Digital Spy, Urban reflected on his experience working onEpisode 9and how he landed the secret role.
TheStar Warssequel trilogy has featured a number of notable performers or industry creatives in small roles. Earlier this summer,Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyscore composerMichael Giacchino revealed he appearedas a Sith Trooper inStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerthrough a social media post that showed himself donning red armor alongside director J.J. Abrams. Now, Karl Urban has revealed that he was also one of the actors tasked with portraying a stormtrooper and even recorded a line of dialogue for the final chapter of the mainStar Warssaga.
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The end credits forStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerlist Urban’s name under the “additional voices” section and the actor confirmed that he was, indeed, brought on board the project after paying a visit to the set of the film. “I had the good fortune to go and visit J. J. Abrams [the film’s director] while he was shootingThe Rise of Skywalker. While I was there, he put me in a stormtrooper uniform and we had a really fun day on set. It’s been one of my life-long goals to be a stormtrooper, so I can tick that off now,” he explained.
Urban’s cameo occurs during the sequence in which Kylo Ren and the Knights of Ren march down the halls of a First Order spaceship, shortly after the Supreme Leader repaired his shattered helmet. “What is in the cut is my voice saying ‘Knights of Ren’ as Kylo Ren walks down a hallway past two stormtroopers. I am one of those stormtroopers,” Karl Urban revealed.
In addition to his role as Leonard H. “Bones” McCoy in the rebootedStar Trekfilms, Urban is known for his appearances in high-profile genre projects such as theLord of the Ringstrilogy,Dredd, and Amazon’s hit superhero seriesThe Boys,which willbegin its second season in September 2019. So, many fans of Urban’s previous work would likely be thrilled to see the actor join theStar Warsfranchise, even if his role may simply be a brief cameo. Other actors who made small but noteworthy appearances inThe Rise of Skywalker, includeHamiltonwriter and star Lin-Manuel Miranda as a resistance fighter, singer Ed Sheeran as a stormtrooper, and fellowLord of the Ringsstar Dominic Monaghan in the role of a resistance fighter.
Of course, others might feel that Urban’s talent is being squandered considering his wealth of experience in the science-fiction genre. Fortunately, Disney and Lucasfilm are developing multiple new Star Warsprojects, includingadditional seasons ofThe Mandalorian, that could open a wide range of roles for Urban or others in the future. Nonetheless, Urban will be fully in the spotlight when his character fromThe Boys, Billy Butcher,becomes the focus of a short filmslated to be released during the middle of the show’s second season.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalkeris available on Disney+.
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