Crew Cameos
Star Wars films – particularly, the modern ones – are always home to multiple celebrity cameos. The same’s true of Rise of Skywalker. Ed Sheeran and Lin-Manuel Miranda, for instance, pop up as a Stormtrooper and a Resistance pilot, respectively. This time around, though, the film also features a few key members of the crew in easily-missed roles.
First of all, BB-8 gets a new friend in TROS in the form of D-O, the misused droid of a Jedi hunter who once killed Rey’s parents. He tends to speak in short declarations like “Hello” or “No, thank you” and the character’s voice was provided by J.J. Abrams. Likewise, co-writer Chris Terrio serves as the voice of Aftab Ackbar, the young Mon Calamari Resistance fighter. He’s the son of the late, much-missed Admiral Ackbar, don’t you know.
What’s more, the legend that is John Williams also finally gets to appear on-screen in Star Wars, after scoring the movies for the past 40 years. Williams can be seen as a composer (figures) at a club on the planet Kijimi. When the gang walk through it to get to Babu Frik, he can be seen shaking his head.