The return of Star Wars to our screens and our lives has been a cultural phenomenon that shows no signs of slowing down. No matter how rich or famous, just about everyone wants to be a part of Star Wars. And for those who don't have substantial roles in the films, there are cameo opportunities galore. That is, assuming you are famous enough and have the right connections. This weekend's Star Wars: The Last Jedi has cameos of a royal nature, as Prince William and Prince Harry both appear as Stormtroopers in the film. When asked who would make the better stormtrooper, Rey actress Daisy Ridley chose Prince Harry.
While Daisy Ridley would not outright confirm to ET that the princes appeared in the film, that ship sailed months ago when John Boyega proved secret keeping is not his best skill.
Prince William, despite being the eldest and closer to the throne in the succession, has gotten the short end of the stick recently. All the fuss of late has been on his younger brother, who recently got engaged to actress Meghan Markle. Of course, something tells me William will be fine with being the second best Stormtrooper. Knowing a crown will someday sit atop your head makes it easy to not sweat the small stuff. But I do wonder what made Daisy Ridley cite Harry as the superior Stormtrooper. Being a Stormtrooper doesn't exactly require Daniel Day Lewis-level acting; you're in a helmet the whole time and you march around and fail spectacularly at marksmanship. Perhaps William followed in the footsteps of a now iconic stormtrooper from A New Hope and banged his head or tripped, both of which are decidedly un-Princely.
Rian Johnson's film continues the celebrity cameo trend started in The Force Awakens. The J.J. Abrams film featured cameos from uber-nerd Kevin Smith, Simon Pegg and 007 himself, Daniel Craig. In addition to Princes William and Harry, we know about a few other celebrities who will be showing up in The Last Jedi. The man behind Bane and soon Venom, Tom Hardy will also be somewhere in the film. Gary Barlow, a famous singer in the UK, will also have a cameo in the year's biggest movie. I imagine once the movie has been out for some time we could hear about some more celebrities who were hidden under makeup, masks and helmets. This will hopefully make for some fun deleted scenes and behind the scenes stuff on the Blu-ray.
Part of what is cool about these cameos is that they are purely for fun. These actors usually aren't identifiable, so they do not distract or take you out of the film. It also goes to show that celebrities are Star Wars fans just like anyone else. And even though they will not be featured or recognizable, they still love Star Wars enough to want to be a part of it.
See if you can figure out which Stormtrooper has a royal gait when Star Wars: The Last Jedi struts into theaters this weekend. Check out our review and pre-order your tickets now.
