Doctor Who's Matt Smith clears up Star Wars rumour confusion

Doctor Who star Matt Smith has finally addressed those rumours suggesting he'd landed a role in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

For those who don't remember, the confusion came about when the first cast list was announced by Variety back in August 2018. The report claimed that Smith was on board in an undisclosed role.

However, he later denied being involved in the movie, with reporter Emily Zemler writing on Twitter in May 2019 that "he's not in Star Wars" and "the studio never announced him being in it".

But after further investigation, reports found that Smith was actually listed in the cast by the official UK site for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which said: "Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie, Richard E Grant, Keri Russell, Matt Smith and Dominic Monaghan." His name, and Monaghan's, have since been removed, though the Variety report remains live.

So, what actually happened here?

Noel Vasquez//Getty Images

What to Read Next

In a new interview with Josh Horowitz for Happy, Sad, Confused, Smith finally shed some light on the situation.

When asked if he actually ever shot any Star Wars scenes, he responded: "No, I didn't, I didn't. We were close to me being in it, but then it just never quite happened. I think the thing they were thinking of me for, eventually the part became obsolete and they didn't need it. So, I never got to be in Star Wars. There we are!" There we are, indeed.

He added that "there were a couple of meetings to talk about it", which is likely where all those pesky rumours originated from, but it seems there was little more than that.

Smith did go into a little bit more detail about his could have been role though, addressing rumours he may have had meetings to play the evil Sith Lord Emperor Palpatine's son.

BBC

"I could not possibly say," the actor explained. "But it was a pretty groovy thing, like it was a really groovy part and concept. It was a big thing, it was like a big story detail, like a transformative Star Wars story detail.

"But it never quite got over the line… It was a big shift in the history of the franchise."

But thankfully, for those excited for the Eleventh Doctor to appear in the Star Wars universe, Smith didn't write off taking a role in the future.

"Well, maybe I can come back," he teased. "You never know."

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and the entire Skywalker Saga are available on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K now, as well as on Disney+, while Rise of Skywalker is also on Sky Cinema Premiere and NOW.