Revenge of the Sith Surprises

Star Wars is full of cameos, but the franchise’s creator, George Lucas, only ever made one secret cameo. There have been countless cameos in Star Wars over the franchise’s nearly 50-year history, so it’s not surprising that even George Lucas got in on the action.

Surprisingly, Lucas chose not to cameo in the original trilogy; he waited until Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith before making an appearance. What’s more, although Lucas remained heavily involved until he sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, he wouldn’t make another appearance at all.

George Lucas Appeared In Revenge Of The Sith

As Baron Papanoida

You can spot George Lucas’ cameo in the famous Opera House scene on Coruscant in Revenge of the Sith. There, he’s playing a blue-skinned Pantoran male named Baron Notluwiski Papanoida, Supreme Chairman of the Pantoran Assembly during the Clone Wars. He’s clearly well-connected enough to be close to the Chancellor’s box on Coruscant.

Papanoida also made an appearance in The Clone Wars, though he wasn’t voiced by George Lucas. In this appearance, Papanoida works to find his two kidnapped daughters. After traveling to Tatooine to find Greedo, Papanoida and his son engage bounty hunters in a shootout, which they eventually win.

Lucas Did Make One Other (Deleted) Cameo

As An Unnamed Attendant

With such influence on Star Wars, it’s not surprising that George Lucas almost made another appearance in the franchise. In the prequels, George Lucas also played an unnamed attendant to Twi’lek Senator Orn Free Taa, but the appearance was deleted. Orn Free Taa has appeared multiple times since, including in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Though Lucas’ appearance with Orn Free Taa was ultimately cut and deleted, it’s still a relatively little-known fact. Lucas’ face did appear in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace – albeit so subtly that it was only spotted last year. Still, even this didn’t require any actual acting from Lucas himself.

It’d be interesting to know where else George Lucas considered cameoing in Star Wars and if anything had been put into motion before getting scrapped. With so many cameos in Star Wars, it feels a little bit more special when it’s George Lucas making an appearance.