Over the years, many big names have appeared in the beloved Star Wars franchise, be they Harrison Ford, Adam Driver or Liam Neeson. However, one more Hollywood A-lister was almost cast in a Star Wars movie – none other than Tom Hanks.
Best known for his work in the drama movies Cast Away and Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks revealed during an interview on Josh Horowitz’ Happy Sad Confused podcast that he almost had a cameo in the 2018 science fiction movie Solo: A Star Wars Story. According to the star, he was approached to partake in the film, which was the origin story of the beloved Star Wars character, Han Solo, as a stormtrooper. However, despite being very keen to venture into a galaxy far, far away, ultimately, Hanks had to turn down the gig due to scheduling conflicts.
“I would have done that, yeah. I couldn’t make that work. I couldn’t get there in time,” Hanks said. “I think if you do a survey, all kinds of famous people have been in a stormtrooper outfit. I think [Daniel] Craig was in one. Movie executives have shown up to be a Storm Trooper. I’d do it.”
“That was one thing about Star Wars,” Hanks continued. “Within the first 45 seconds of it, as soon as you saw a stormtrooper, never mind Darth Vader, but as soon as you saw those guys running around in those stormtrooper outfits, you were in the hands of something that had been really well-thought-out.”
If Hanks did manage to make it for his cameo, he would have joined the ranks of stars who have also sneakily appeared in the franchise, such as Karl Urban, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. But despite skipping his big Star Wars break, Hanks has been keeping himself plenty busy.
The actor’s latest films include Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, and the new Disney live-action remake of Pinocchio. Hanks is also currently working on several upcoming projects, such as the comedy movie A Man Called Otto, and Wes Anderson’s romance movie Asteroid City.