Daniel Craig reveals how he secured his cameo as a stormtrooper in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, claiming that it was all thanks to 007.

Daniel Craig has revealed how he got his stormtrooper cameo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The James Bond actor is on the promotional trail for his final outing as 007, and the Bond film with the longest running time, No Time To Die. Directed by Cary Joji Funukaga, the 25th film in the Bond franchise is being released in cinemas this October after being hit with several postponements due to the coronavirus pandemic.

2015's The Force Awakens was the first installment in the Skywalker sequel trilogy and brought the franchise back to the big screen 10 years after Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. Directed by JJ Abrams, The Force Awakens was generally well-received for reinvigorating the franchise with new characters, slick action, and fun, while bringing original heroes Luke, Leia and Han Solo back into the fold. But the Star Wars trilogy proved to be divisive and uneven, ending on a dour note with Abrams' The Rise of Skywalker - currently sitting on Rotten Tomatoes as the worst-reviewed Star Wars film.

Speaking with BBC Radio 1, Craig revealed how he secured his stormtrooper cameo: all thanks to Bond. Craig claimed being James Bond gave him the "hutzpah" to ask to appear in the movie. He was also helped out by a crew member who was the second assistant director on both James Bond and The Force Awakens, who, at Craig's request, asked JJ Abrams whether Craig could make an appearance. Instead of just "holding a gun" in the back of frame, however, Craig was happy to get a scene. Read the full quote below.

"I don't think I could've done that if I hadn't have been James Bond. Yeah, there are lovely, lovely things like that. And having the hutzpah to do that is because I'm James Bond. I wouldn't have done that any other way. But I asked the second AD on Star Wars, who's our second AD, a lovely guy called Ben Dixon. And I said, 'Ben, come on. Come on. Get me in. I can be a stormtrooper. He was like, 'Ask JJ'. JJ was like, 'Get him in'. He gave me a scene. I just thought I was just going to stand at the back holding a gun. I would've been happy with that but he actually gave me a scene."

The scene takes place after Rey is taken hostage by the First Order. A stormtrooper, played by Craig, is tasked with guarding her as she is held in her cell. Rey, beginning to discover and test her abilities, successfully uses the Jedi mind trick to convince Craig's stormtrooper to let her free. Craig isn't the only actor to have secured a cameo in Star Wars. It became a small trend in the sequel trilogy to cast world-famous actors in small roles and then place a stormtrooper helmet over them - or disguise them in heavy makeup - to avoid the audience being jarred by prominent actors frequently appearing.

A fan favorite to replace Craig as Bond, Tom Hardy, also had an extended cameo as a stormtrooper in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, only for the scene to end up on the cutting room floor. Karl Urban revealed last year that he, too, was a stormtrooper in The Rise of Skywalker after he paid Abrams a visit on set and was handed the white and black costume. Composer Michael Giacchino also revealed he had a Sith Trooper cameo. Who knows how many other famous faces may be lurking beneath stormtrooper helmets? While the number of famous faces lurking beneath stormtrooper helmets seems to be ever-increasing, Craig's cameo in The Force Awakens remains the most prominent. That's one more thing he can be grateful to Bond for.

Next: No Time To Die Could've Broken A Huge Bond Record (Before The Pandemic)

Source: BBC Radio 1