SPOILER ALERT: This article contains SPOILERS (although not really BAD ones) from ‘The Force Awakens’.  If you haven’t seen it yet, you may want to turn back.

It only seems fair that since the characters from ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ are making cameos on every damn thing at the supermarket from fresh fruit to Campbell’s soup, that the real world “strikes back” and insert a few guest faces into the movie.  Yes, in addition to the fresh faces of John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver, and returning vets Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, plus many more, there were a few cameos by folks that aren’t quite major players, some of whom are even famous.

There have been plenty of rumors, but here are the actual cameos that have been confirmed:

Simon Pegg – The British comedy actor, most famous to American audiences as Scotty in the modern ‘Star Trek’ franchise, has long been rumored to have a cameo as an unrecognizable alien.  And in fact, he wound up having a pretty pivotal, if small part: Unkar Plutt, the shifty alien who ran the trading post on Jakku.  Toward the beginning, (once again, not a huge spoiler, since it was the beginning), Rey trades him scrap metal for food.  But later… well, that would be telling.

Daniel Craig (right) – Simon Pegg actually let slip that the 007 actor had a cameo as a Stormtrooper, despite Craig loudly and profanely denying it.  But sure enough, Craig did have a small role as a Stormtrooper, guilty as charged.  And in a pretty major scene.  Craig is the Stormtrooper tasked with guarding Rey after she is captured.  He… er, doesn’t do a good job.

Michael Giacchino – Giacchino usually works as the composer for J.J. Abrams’ films, but this one was scored by classic ‘Star Wars’ music meister John Williams.  Perhaps as a consolation, Abrams cast him as a Stormtrooper, specifically FN-3181, the one that brings Poe Dameron to Kylo Ren on the Starkiller Base.

Nigel Godrich – Along the same lines, Godrich served as the music producer on ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World’ directed by Edgar Wright, who also directed Pegg in the Cornetto Trilogy.  It’s not clear how, but apparently Wright owed Godrich a favor, pulled some strings with Pegg and landed him a role as Stormtrooper FN-9330, although it appears that this was an “extra” role with no dialogue.

Warwick Davis – Davis played Wicket the Ewok in ‘Return of the Jedi’ and minus the hairy makeup, was the lead in fantasy classic ‘Willow’.  Davis appeared as one of the aliens in Maz Kanata’s bar/castle.  His character is named Wollivan, but at this point, it’s not known which alien that was.  But this being ‘Star Wars’, he’ll probably get an action figure soon, so then the mystery will be solved.

Bill Hader (left) – Former SNL player Hader is best known for his tweaking club kid character Stefan, but his contribution to ‘The Force Awakens’ falls more along the lines of beeping.  He played BB-8!  Well, he provided the foundation for the adorable droid’s beeps anyway.  Hader is officially credited as a “Vocal Consultant” for the role.

Ewan McGregor – And the most SPOILERIFIC cameo, Ewan McGregor, Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequels, lent his voice for exactly one word: “Rey” which is heard when Rey touches Luke’s lightsaber for the first time and is bombarded with nightmarish visions.  What does it mean?  Well, something I’d guessed at, but this seems to confirm it.  (Sadly, the line was previously recorded by James Arnold Taylor, the voice of Obi-Wan in the ‘Clone Wars’ animated series.  But when McGregor became available, Taylor’s take was ditched.)

Most people wouldn’t recognize Giacchino and Godard if they saw them, but still their stories are interesting.  And it is nice that Davis was given a cameo since it’s unlikely that the Ewoks will factor into the new movies since most fans now consider them the weakest part of the original trilogy.  Hader’s cameo is the most startling and for the time being, it hasn’t been revealed how he got it.  Perhaps that info will come to light in time.

At any rate, fans are surely happier with these than the aborted *NSYNC cameo from ‘Attack of the Clones’ which was apparently filmed at the insistence of George Lucas’ teenage daughter.  Thankfully, J.J. Abrams’ doesn’t have any Beliebers for kids.

What do you think of these cameos?  Neat or distracting?

‘The Force Awakens’ is currently breaking records in theaters across the U.S. and other parts of the world.

Source: Screen Rant