Star Wars: Frank Oz Claims He’s Not in The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is set to debut in a matter of days, and fans are eagerly and anxiously trying to tiptoe around spoilers for the upcoming film. The possibility of who and won’t be in the saga’s final chapter – and where exactly things will conclude – has certainly been a topic of conversation. According to a recent appearance from franchise alum Frank Oz, it sounds like one original trilogy character might not be a part of that. During the official red carpet live stream for The Rise of Skywalker, Oz explained that he isn’t actually appearing as Yoda in the film.

“I’m not in this movie, by the way,” Oz revealed. “I’m a freeloader. I’m enjoying myself now. I have no concern.”

Later on in the interview, Oz reiterated: “I’m not even in it, I’m totally just here for fun.”

Of course, Oz’s take on Yoda did already appear in the sequel trilogy in The Last Jedi, as a Force protection who visited Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in a dire time. As Oz revealed in an interview last year, the circumstances of Yoda’s return were very specific.

“Several years ago I had lunch with Rian [Johnson], and Rian asked if I could do Yoda in the next Star Wars, and I said ‘Sure,’ because I thought it was just CGI,” Oz said in 2018. “And then [Lucasfilm president] Kathy Kennedy, who I’ve known for quite a while, who’s fantastic, she called me about it and then I realized that it wasn’t CGI, that it was actually the character. I said, ‘Kathy, do you have any idea what’s going to happen here? This is tough!’ and she said ‘That’s okay, let’s do it.’ So, you know, the workshop made him and everything, and did a fantastic job.“

“If a character is transcendent and lives and breathes then he’s inside me. It takes a long time to get there, but I’ve done him a long time,” Oz said. “Yoda was fully formed as a written character and he was fully formed as a designed character, but the internal part of him was not created. He was a wise person, and a powerful person, but that’s kind of all that was given to me. So I had to create a whole backstory for him inside me to make him come alive and be transcendent.”

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will arrive in theaters on December 20th.