Mark Hamill's unexpected appearance as Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian stands as one of the most thrilling surprises in Star Wars history. Rosario Dawson, who joined the Star Wars universe in The Book of Boba Fett, shared a fascinating anecdote at Star Wars Celebration. She revealed she was completely in the dark about Hamill's cameo until he surprised her on set.
Concept art of Plo Koon used to mislead potential leaks. Image Credit: Disney & Lucasfilm
To safeguard the secrecy of Luke Skywalker's cameo, showrunners Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau cleverly used Jedi Master Plo Koon as a decoy in the scripts. Even Dawson was misled by this tactic, encountering Plo Koon's supposed return in her script for The Book of Boba Fett. This baffled her, as fans remember Plo Koon's demise in Revenge of the Sith.
"I was like... I don't know... but people disappear and then they come back, so maybe it's possible?" Dawson pondered. Her confusion was resolved only when Mark Hamill himself appeared on set, jokingly questioning the plausibility of Plo Koon's return. "Plo Koon? That wouldn't even make sense!" Hamill remarked, to which Dawson replied, "I know it didn't make sense, but I still had to think it made sense because I got the script and everything!"
Filoni and Favreau expressed their regret over the oversight, with Filoni admitting, "That was bad on us! I think we assumed you'd gotten told the right information." He added with a laugh, "We were in it so much."
Favreau highlighted the intense secrecy surrounding two major reveals on the show: Grogu's appearance at the end of the first episode and Luke Skywalker's at the end of season two. "We were biting our nails all the way the whole way through, and we somehow miraculously made it cleanly to both of those because everything else leaked. But, unfortunately, we didn't fill in our partner here."
Dawson took the mix-up in stride, humorously noting, "I love it, they know I can't be trusted."
