Daniel Craig, whilst on the promotional trail for his final outing as 007 in No Time To Day, has revealed how he got his stormtrooper cameo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Speaking with BBC Radio 1, Craig revealed how he secured his stormtrooper cameo: all thanks to Bond. Craig claimed being James Bond gave him the “hutzpah” to ask to appear in the movie. He was also helped out by a crew member who was the second assistant director on both James Bond and The Force Awakens, who, at Craig’s request, asked JJ Abrams whether Craig could make an appearance. Instead of just “holding a gun” in the back of frame, however, Craig was happy to get a scene. Read the full quote below.
“I don’t think I could’ve done that if I hadn’t have been James Bond. Yeah, there are lovely, lovely things like that. And having the hutzpah to do that is because I’m James Bond. I wouldn’t have done that any other way. But I asked the second AD on Star Wars, who’s our second AD, a lovely guy called Ben Dixon. And I said, ‘Ben, come on. Come on. Get me in. I can be a stormtrooper. He was like, ‘Ask JJ’. JJ was like, ‘Get him in’. He gave me a scene. I just thought I was just going to stand at the back holding a gun. I would’ve been happy with that but he actually gave me a scene.”
The scene takes place after Rey is taken hostage by the First Order. A stormtrooper, played by Craig, is tasked with guarding her as she is held in her cell. Rey, beginning to discover and test her abilities, successfully uses the Jedi mind trick to convince Craig’s stormtrooper to let her free. Craig isn’t the only actor to have secured a cameo in Star Wars. It became a small trend in the sequel trilogy to cast world-famous actors in small roles and then place a stormtrooper helmet over them – or disguise them in heavy makeup – to avoid the audience being jarred by prominent actors frequently appearing.
No Time To Die is released in cinemas on September 30th, 2021.
