Back in November, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Prince William, Prince Harry, singer Gary Barlow, and actor Tom Hardy would all be making cameos as stormtroopers in The Last Jedi. However, when the film premiered, the foursome of overtly British First Order foot soldiers were nowhere to be seen. As it turns out, the Princes were just too damn tall. And we can now confirm, thanks to a newly released deleted scene, that Tom Hardy was just too damn weird.
The scrapped scene takes place while Finn, Rose, and DJ are sneaking their way through Snoke’s ship. They’ve acquired some First Order officers’ uniforms and are trying their best to remain undetected, which becomes much more difficult when they find themselves sharing an elevator with a group of stormtroopers. “FN-2187?” says a trooper with Tom Hardy’s voice, albeit effecting a thick southern accent. Finn’s face drops at the sound of someone addressing him, the rebel hero, by his previous First Order designation. “You don’t remember me? 926? Yeah, I remember you.”
Clearly the jig is up. Rose’s hand goes to her gun but DJ urges restraint. Then, as with so many moments in The Last Jedi, the scene’s tension is quickly cut by a moment of levity. “I know I’m not supposed to initiate contact with officers but I never took you for captain material,” Hardy says conversationally before letting out an enthusiastic “Look at you! Captain!” and slapping Finn on the ass.
The whole scene feels more like an SNL sketch that was cut for time than something that would actually be in a Star Wars movie. But it also follows a thematic thread that the Disney films have at least attempted to develop—that is, that stormtroopers are people, too. This scene, the deleted scene with Captain Phasma, and Finn’s storyline as a whole all contribute to the idea that behind those shiny helmets there are people with names, feelings, and flaws. Unfortunately, going too far down that path makes it a lot harder to blast countless stormtroopers in the face simply because they’re standing in the rebellion’s way. Maybe that’s why this scene ended up on the cutting-room floor. Or maybe it was just Tom Hardy’s weird accent.
[via Esquire]
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