20 Things You Didn't Know About Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
6. Matt Smith Was In Talks For A Secret Role
In August 2018, the same month that the film began shooting, it was reported that Matt Smith had joined the cast in a secret role, which of course turned out to be untrue.
Nevertheless, in recent times Smith has confirmed that he was indeed in talks for a juicy part, albeit without confirming the precise nature of the role. He said:
"We were close to me being in it, but then it just never quite happened. I think the thing they were thinking of me for, eventually the part became obsolete and they didn't need it and so I never got to be in Star Wars."
Smith later called it a "transformative Star Wars story detail," and rumours have swirled for years that he was originally set to play a "dark side acolyte" whose body ends up being possessed by Palpatine.
As goofy as that sounds, Smith's presence as a quasi-reincarnated Palpatine would've certainly been interesting to behold.