The George Lucas Cameo You Missed In Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

George Lucas changed cinema forever with "Star Wars." He didn't just alter the medium in terms of franchising, but he also pushed the limits of independent cinema and revolutionized everything from visual effects to digital editing, sound design, and filming. But you already know that, right? 

What you may not know, however, is that Lucas frequently made appearances in non-"Star Wars" movies and TV shows throughout his career. For example, the now-retired filmmaker once cameoed in his buddy Steven Spielberg's Peter Pan film "Hook," specifically in a scene where he makes out with Carrie Fisher. (!) Lucas also played a small role in "Beverly Hills Cop III" (sharing the screen with Christina Venuti) and even showed up in an episode of "The O.C." once.

Of course, "Star Wars" fans are aware that Lucas similarly popped up in "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith." In that case, he played the blue-skinned Baron Papanoida, the chairman of the moon Pantora, during the opera scene before we learn about the epic tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise.

It turns out, however, that Lucas made another cameo in the prequel trilogy — a teeny tiny role some years before his on-screen turn as Papanoida. Indeed, Lucas was immortalized in a blink-and-you-miss-it Easter egg in "Episode I — The Phantom Menace" that was long the source of speculation, but has now been confirmed at long last.

Speaking to former Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) matte painter Caroleen "Jett" Green for his newsletter, reporter Clayton Sandell discovered that Lucas is, in fact, in "The Phantom Menace" ... just not exactly in person. It also wasn't his idea to be in the movie at all. Instead, Jett snuck an image of the "Star Wars" creator into the background of a shot of the Theed Royal Palace on Naboo.

Lucas' cameo comes in just under the two-hour mark of "The Phantom Menace" during the film's climactic battle on Naboo. As you see from the above image, this particular shot shows a squad of Naboo soldiers running through a very long hallway in the Theed Royal Palace. If you look in the background, you can see an arch above a huge window, along with a small oval relief that has some sort of face on it. Turns out, the face belongs to none other than George Lucas himself.

"I decided to get a picture of George, and I put it on this plaque," Green explained. "I thought, 'Well, that'll be cool. By the time you shrink that down, his face is just a blur.'" After Green showed the painting to a supervisor, Lucas shared his thoughts.

"George is really quiet," Green continued. "He looks at it, and he goes, 'Oh, naughty, naughty.' I said, 'Yeah, but it's you! It's your face.' And then there's silence again. And I'm just sitting there with everybody. And for some reason, I can't describe the feeling, but — I knew that I wasn't going to get in trouble. And then George says, 'Okay. Leave it in.'"

Granted, this was not the first cameo Lucas ever made in his movies; he also provided his voice for a scream in his pre-"Star Wars" classic "American Grafitti." Still, it's fun to know there's two George Lucas-looking people in the world of "Star Wars."