Is Matt Smith Actually In Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker?
4. Smith's Denial (March 2019)
The next major development came shortly after Grant's interview, and it was a biggie: Smith himself stated that he will not be appearing in the film.
The actor was interviewed by writer Emily Zemler in March 2019, who shared his quote in a feature for the LA Times:
"He’s not in the next Star Wars film, despite reports to the contrary ('as far as I can tell, I’m definitely not,' he says) - although he is practiced in keeping secrets."
Zemler is correct when she notes that Smith is no stranger to secret-keeping. The actor spent four years making Doctor Who, a show where being careful with your words is a requirement. He's been trained for this type of publicity, and if he's been told to hide a Star Wars secret, he'll be able to do that with relative ease.
But still, we have no way of knowing if he was actually lying here or not. We'll have to wait until December for clarification. Actors lie about aspects of their roles all the time, but very few deny their involvement altogether, so if he is in The Rise of Skywalker, it has to be a very important part.