Temuera Morrison's Obi-Wan Kenobi Cameo Marked A Weird First For The Actor

Temuera Morrison is a pivotal part of the "Star Wars" universe. As an actor, he brought us something we hadn't seen before: a badass warrior that could take on a Jedi without a lightsaber, a character that informed what a bounty hunter could be in "Star Wars" for a whole new generation. He also serve as the face behind the mask for one of the best additions the prequels gave to the larger franchise: the clones.

The Grand Army of the Republic — introduced in the (honestly, underrated!) "Attack of the Clones" after their small role in the live-action movies — was fleshed-out in the animated shows, quickly making characters like Rex, Echo, Fives, and Cody into figures as beloved as Luke or Yoda. Yet, as essential as the clones are to the larger "Star Wars" universe, Morrison never really played one properly. Until now.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi" is helping bridge the gap between the prequel and original trilogy by showing a side of the "Star Wars" universe we hadn't seen before: the hunting of Jedi post-Order 66. In episode 2 of the series, Obi-Wan comes face to face with the results of his failure in defeating Anakin, not only in how the Inquisitors harass citizens in their search of living Jedi, but in the face of one of the people left behind by the Empire: a clone soldier. 

The soldier is played by none other than Temuera Morrison in a cameo that has fans (and me) excited about the possibility of seeing one of the beloved clone characters like Rex return in live-action one day. It was also an exciting cameo for Morrison, who revealed to IGN that it was the first time he wore a physical clone trooper suit on screen: 

"The only time I got to wear [physical clone trooper armor] was in that little ["Obi-Wan Kenobi"] cameo appearance."

Indeed, according to Morrison, during production of "Attack of the Clones," director George Lucas told the special effects team that "'If [the clones] took their helmet off and they're all in the background, well they've got to look like [Morrison] as part of the clone army,'" Morrison explained. "So it was quite funny how they'd use the outtakes... and they'd take that little moment and stick it on one of the [all-CGI] clone bodies and take another little moment [and do the same with another CGI clone body]."

"Obi-Wan Kenobi" is streaming on Disney+.