Several years ago came word that former “Doctor Who” star Matt Smith had joined the cast of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” in an unknown role.
A year later, before the film opened, Smith confirmed he wasn’t in the film. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast this week, Smith finally explained what happened.
It seems he was approached to be in the film in a role that would have been ‘transformative’ for the franchise, but ultimately it didn’t come to fruition:
“No, I didn’t [shoot any scenes]. We were close to me being in it and then it never quite happened. I think the thing they were thinking of me for, eventually it became obsolete and they didn’t need it, and so, I never got to be in ‘Star Wars,’ there we are.”
There were rumors he was to play Palpatine’s son and he was asked about that to which he responded:
“I could not possibly say…but it was a pretty groovy thing, it was a really groovy part and concept. It was a big thing, it was a big story detail, a transformative ‘Star Wars’ story detail and it never got quite over the line.
I mean it was like a big [makes a redacted sound] shift in the history of the franchise. There was no costume [test] and there were a couple of meetings to talk about it. Maybe I can come back, you never know.”
What that role could’ve been isn’t clear. Smith has been in such a role before on another sci-fi franchise, playing a human incarnation of Skynet in the poorly-received “Terminator: Genisys”. He’ll soon be seen also be starring in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel spin-off series “House of the Dragon”.
