There’s a lot you don’t know about Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
You should keep it that way, too…at least until you see it. (If you need helping avoiding spoilers, we have some suggestions.) The latest episode in the space saga has been shrouded in secrecy -- and we intend to keep its secrets -- but here are six fun facts you may not have known about the movie.
1. The Voice of BB-8: The droid's adorableness makes so much more sense now! If you pay attention to The Force Awakens’ end credits, you’ll see two actors listed as “voice consultants” for BB-8: None other than Bill Hader (Inside Out, Trainwreck) and Ben Schwartz (House of Cards). We would love to sit on one of those consulting sessions.
2. The Star Trek Cameo: Simon Pegg, who worked with director J.J. Abrams in Mission: Impossible III and then played Scotty in Abrams’ Star Trek reboot, made the crossover to the Star Wars universe with an unrecognizable cameo. Pegg plays an alien named Unkar Plutt, a Jakku junk dealer who interacts with Rey (Daisy Ridley) early in the film.
Elsewhere, playing an alien background extra? Oscar Isaac’s uncle.
3. The Broadway Connection: You’d have to be living in a galaxy far, far away to have not heard of the smash musical hit, Hamilton. Well, the show's creator and sometimes star, Lin-Manuel Miranda, wrote the new cantina music!
“At intermission, [Lin-Manuel] comes up to me and he says, ‘Hello.’ And my mind is blown because he’s so brilliant. He says, ‘Hey, if you need music for the Cantina, I’ll write it,’” Abrams revealed on The Tonight Show. “I end up emailing Lin Miranda and was like, ‘I know you were kidding, but if you actually want to write this music.’ … He was like, ‘I’ll drop everything.’”
We did. Worked on it between 6pm & 7:30 on 2 show days for the past 2 months. JJ is the best. Can't wait to see. https://t.co/pPYu8nRsxI
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) December 1, 2015
4. Princess Leia’s Daughter: Don’t worry, we’re not giving away plot points. But if you think a certain young lady working for General Leia looks familiar, it’s because the actress is Carrie Fisher’s real-life daughter, Billie Lourd.
The 23-year-old, who you might recognize from Scream Queens, previously told ET that it was “a lie” that she was playing a young Leia in flashbacks and admitted that her character “doesn’t say much.” All of which is true. But she is rocking Leia’s signature, as Carrie puts it, “baboon ass hairstyle.”
(WARNING: We’re about to venture into slight spoiler territory.)
5. Missing Shots: Remember this EPIC shot of Kylo Ren from the trailer?
Yeah, it’s not even in the movie. Neither is this shot of a lightsaber.
It happens.
6. Missing Character: Meanwhile, an entire alien seems to have gone MIA: Constable Zuvio, who has his own action figure and appears in stills that seem to be from the movie. Alas, Zuvio, who Lucasfilms describes as a “tough and humorless vigilant law officer” who “keeps order in a frontier trading post,” is nowhere to be found in the final cut.
(Zuvio does, however, appear in a Star Wars short story, titled “High Noon on Jakku,” so if you’re a fan of that eBook, good news! You can probably get one of those aforementioned action figures on eBay!)
Now, if you’re worried that Star Wars: The Force Awakens has already been spoiled for you, don’t worry. J.J. Abrams tells ET, “You haven’t seen anything!”
