Star Wars: 'Parks and Recreation' Star Reveals He Played a Stormtrooper in 'The Force Awakens'

In the early days of the Star Wars saga, the series hadn't yet built a massive following around [...]

By Patrick Cavanaugh

In the early days of the Star Wars saga, the series hadn't yet built a massive following around the world, with the filmmakers focusing first on creating the best film they could. In Lucasfilm's new chapters, various celebrities have been able to pull some strings to find a way to appear in the franchise, even if no one will recognize them. Ben Schwartz, star of Parks and Recreation and House of Lies, revealed on Twitter that he had a cameo as a Stormtrooper in The Force Awakens.

The actor shared the photo of himself on set with J.J. Abrams seemingly directing him to honor the "May the Fourth" holiday.

Possibly to confirm this was really him in the outfit and not merely something that was the work of Photoshop, Schwartz shared a follow-up photo of him in the Stormtrooper outfit behind the scenes.

The actor's mention of BB-8 ties into his other role in the film which also didn't feature him appearing on screen.

In hopes of giving BB-8 more personality, both Schwartz and Saturday Night Live star Bill Hader lent their vocal abilities to the droid. Much like sound designer Ben Burtt's method of bringing R2-D2 to life for the original films, both Schwartz and Hader would react in scenes with BB-8's dialogue, both as spoken lines and then in the form of playful vocalizations. After the two actors provided vocalizations for the droid, their pitch, cadence, and inflections were used to inspire BB-8's digital "voice."

Schwartz wasn't the only unseen cameo in The Force Awakens, with Daniel Craig famously also playing a Stormtrooper in the film, while both Simon Pegg and Warwick Davis played otherworldly creatures on Jakku and in Maz Kanata's castle, respectively.

The next chapter in the Star Wars saga, Solo: A Star Wars Story, lands in theaters on May 25th while J.J. Abrams returns to direct Episode IX, opening on December 20, 2019.

Would you appear in a Star Wars film even if your face never appeared? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

[H/T Twitter, rejectedjokes]

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