Matt Smith Finally Opens Up About His Cut Role From 'Rise Of Skywalker'

Best known for notable roles such as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the Doctor Who series and Prince Philip in The Crown, 39-year-old actor Matt Smith was once rumored to be in The Rise of Skywalker back in 2018. Things clearly took a turn, and his potential character was unfortunately nowhere to be seen, despite the hype surrounding it. After a period of silence, Smith has finally opened up about his potential role which he described would cause 'a big shift' in Star Wars canon.

In a recent interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horrowitz, Smith lamented about how close he came to being part of the Skywalker Saga's grand finale, but that it simply 'just never quite happened'. He revealed that while he had a couple of meetings with the producers on the potential role, the development never reached the stage of a costume test and the part eventually 'became obsolete' in the movie, with the role (at least to us) remaining a mystery. It was indeed rather disappointing to him as he noted 'I never got to be in Star Wars'.

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'I could not possibly say but it was a pretty groovy thing […] 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.'

When asked about what character he would have played if things went as conceived, Smith interestingly described it as 'a really groovy part and concept', such 'a big thing' that would have been significantly transformative to the Star Wars universe. He remained cryptic about the precise role, however, refraining from details and noting that he 'could not possibly say', fueling more speculation towards his planned role to be at least somewhat related to the return of Palpatine. Ever since rumors first surfaced about Matt Smith's involvement in The Rise of Skywalker, the leading speculation had Smith playing a young Palpatine or an actual clone of the Dark Lord side-by-side with him, as has been seen in numerous Legends stories post-Battle of Endor.

While the potential answer that we could have got from the movie is no longer available, Smith nevertheless gave a glimmer of hope in noting a possibility of him joining the Star Wars franchise in the future with the words 'you never know'. It is therefore possible for him to take up the initially planned role in another Star Wars production, such as a new series which appears to be Disney's direction following the controversial reception of the sequel trilogy, but the huge success of new streaming shows like The Mandalorian.

From what we currently know regarding future Star Wars projects, a possible appearance of a Matt Smith-portrayed Palpatine could take place in the cryptic The Acolyte series. The mystery thriller, which is announced to be set in the final days of the High Republic Era, could potentially overlap with the early days of the Star Wars cinematic prequel timeline, setting the scene for an appearance of a young Palpatine being representative of the impending rise of the dark side.

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Source(s): Screen Rant

Written by Geoff Lo

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