Daniel Craig May Have A Costumed Cameo In 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'

There could be a blonde hero in Star Wars: The Force Awakens who would never get the "aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper" comment. If reports are true, somewhere in the film, under a white helmet and armor, lurks Daniel Craig. But this is the sort of report that may have been blown out of proportion — because it's a fun nugget of info, if true — so we'll break down what everyone said, and what we know below.

When Terrence Malick made The Thin Red Line in the late '90s after two decades away from feature directing, it seemed like everyone turned up for a small role in the movie. It's a little distracting, really, and that's not even counting the scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor. But if you had the chance to be in a Malick movie — especially when there were only a couple of them — you'd probably leap at it, too.

We wondered if the same sort of thing might happen with the new Star Wars film. With J.J. Abrams at the helm and a veritable horde of actors who are also fans of Star Wars, there was some expectation that some famous folks would sneak into the film in small roles.

For instance, when Simon Pegg visited the set, many wondered if he might be doing a small role. He said no at the time, but asked again recently by The Independent, Pegg said:

I wasn't a Stormtrooper. Daniel Craig, he was a Stormtrooper. I shouldn't have said that.

That's the sort of comment actors make on red carpets, and the sort of comment that UK papers take way out of context. So the question is: was that a joke? A bit of bait? The Independent attempted to clarify, and went to an unnamed Force Awakens source who said,

Daniel asked for some sort of secret cameo role – and was happy to have his name left off the posters. Fans will love trying to work out which covered up character is him.

Collider reached out to Pegg, who clarified,

Why is everyone leaping on this? It was a rumour last summer, wasn't it? I read it in the paper. It may be untrue, like most of the other rumours, like Cumberbatch and Cruise being in it.

I'd say Pegg knows exactly why people are leaping on it. But some of it has to do with the way the UK outlets reported the comment in the first place. So mark us down as hopeful, but cautious.