Following his three seasons on Doctor Who, Matt Smith has also joined a few other franchises including parts in Terminator: Genisys, Morbius, and next year’s House of the Dragon series on HBO. And now, we have official confirmation that he was *this close* to visiting the Star Wars universe as well. Matt Smith confirms.
In 2018, Variety reported that Smith booked a “key role” in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. However, when the film finally hit theaters the following winter, he was nowhere to be found. This led to a great deal of speculation about who Smith was going to play in the movie. But during a recent appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Smith confirmed that his character was cut before he got to shoot any actual footage.
“We were close to me being in it, but then it just never quite happened,” said Smith. “I think the thing they were thinking of me for, eventually the part became obsolete and they didn’t need it. So I never got to be in Star Wars.”
Remember those reports that Matt Smith was going to be in THE RISE OF SKYWALKER? He told me his role was a big deal, representing “a big shift in the history of the [STAR WARS] franchise.”
WHO WAS HE GOING TO PLAY?!
Full video chat at https://t.co/e84WokCDhq pic.twitter.com/JGKiwPSba9
— Josh Horowitz (@joshuahorowitz) November 3, 2021
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Many rumors pegged Smith as the original choice for Rey’s father, which also would have made him Emperor Palpatine’s clone/son. Unfortunately, Smith remained tight-lipped when asked if this was the case. But he did tease that his character would have been game-changing for the franchise.
“I could not possibly say,” continued Smith. “I could not possibly say, but it was a pretty groovy thing. Like, it was a really groovy part and concept. It was a big thing. Pretty big — it was like a big story detail, like a transformative Star Wars story detail. But it never quite got over the line.”
Would you like to see Matt Smith show up in a different Star Wars project? Let us know in the comment section below!
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