Prior to the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, a rumor did the rounds that former Doctor Who Matt Smith had landed a key role in the final part of the sequel trilogy. This was backed up by some solid sources, but when he didn't appear, we assumed the reports were bogus.
Well, Smith has now confirmed that he was indeed in line to appear in the movie before his character was deemed "obsolete." At the time, there was speculation that the Last Night In Soho actor might be playing either a younger clone of Emperor Palpatine or his son, and while Smith declines to reveal his character's identity, he does admit that his role was pretty important.
"I could not possibly say, but it was a pretty groovy thing," he tells Josh Horowitz during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "It was a big story detail, like a, you know, transformative Star Wars story detail but it never quite got over the line. It was a big shift in the history of the franchise... there was no costume (test), there were a couple of meetings to talk about it. Maybe I can come back, you never know.”
Smith's reluctance to divulge any more information is a little odd when you consider the movie came out over two years ago, but maybe he was asked to keep his character under wraps because there are plans to revisit him down the line. A Palpatine clone of some sort still seems like a fairly safe bet, but there are obviously plenty of other possibilities.
What do you guys think? Smith can currently be seen in Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho, and has a role in the upcoming Morbius movie. He will also appear on the small screen in next year's Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon.
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