Joseph Gordon-Levitt Has A Cameo In 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'

Search
Home

In all the ups and downs at Lucasfilm of late — the tumultuous post-production process on “Rogue One,” which turned out well, the chaos of firing the directors of the “Han Solo” movie, the parting of ways between the company and “Episode IX” director Colin Trevorrow, the mildly baffling hiring of Stephen Daldry to direct an Obi-Wan Kenobi film — there’s been one seeming oasis of calm for the company, and that’s been this fall’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

Maybe it’s just that any behind-the-scenes clashes have been kept better under wraps, but it seems for now that despite being an idiosyncratic and uncompromising indie filmmaker who’d long rejected the idea of playing in other people’s sandboxes, Rian Johnson has fit in beautifully at Lucasfilm — everyone involved speaks glowingly of him, and there’s been no panicked reports of reshoots or other filmmakers being brought on.

With the film getting closer, more details are starting to emerge about exactly what Johnson’s done in a galaxy far, far away, and part of it is bringing along an old friend, who happens to be an A-list actor, for the ride. At an event in Japan promoting the movie, Johnson revealed (to @premiereport, via the Star Wars News Net) that Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who’s appeared in all three of Johnson’s prior movies (albeit uncredited in “The Brothers Bloom”) will turn up in “The Last Jedi.”

READ MORE: 12 Filmmakers Who Could Direct ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’

Or more accurately, his voice will, according to the site, making it likely that he’s playing either a CGI character or practical character (like Simon Pegg in “The Force Awakens“) or, more likely, popped up as a Stormtrooper like Daniel Craig did in the first film. Gordon-Levitt joins his “Inception” co-star Tom Hardy, Justin Theroux, “Rogue One” director Gareth Edwards, and Princes William and Harry as those who are rumored to be donning stormtrooper gear for the new film — keep your ears peeled when the film opens for their voices.

Perhaps more importantly is the question of whether, as is rumored, Johnson will stay in the universe and take over from Trevorrow as the director of “Episode IX.” But at the event, Johnson rebuffed any suggestions for now — Japanese site Star Wars Web Blog reports the director’s response as saying, “It was never in the plan for me directing Episode 9… I don’t know what’s going to happen. I was entirely focused on Episode 8, so now I’m not really thinking about that right now. Sit down and see who are the next filmmaker” (some awkward translation in that last sentence, we imagine).

We certainly believe that Johnson would be keep the cards close to his chest at this point, particularly if negotiations are underway (and presumably, a big paycheck for him is being worked out for stepping in). And while we’re sure that he could well be Lucasfilm’s first choice, we can totally see that he might not be ready to jump straight back into the blockbuster machinery with the new film not even open yet.

We’re sure news of Johnson’s firm involvement will be coming very soon — in the meantime, you can see his first work in the “Star Wars” universe when “The Last Jedi” opens on December 15th.