Star Wars: The Australian actors who starred in the space saga

It takes place in a galaxy far, far away, but Star Wars has plenty of connections to the land Down Under. Ahead of the release of The Rise of Skywalker, here are the saga’s Australian links.

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When Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits Australian cinema screens today, it will be the latest high point in a love affair that began on October 27, 1977, when the film we now know as A New Hope made its Down Under debut.

Aussies have felt the force of Star Wars more than most: so much so that nearly 48,000 of us nominated “Jedi” as our religion in the 2016 census.

The filming of episodes two and three at Sydney's Fox Studios in the early 2000s cemented the love affair. Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith featured an array of Aussies both behind and in front of the scenes.

Matt Doran, Susie Porter, Claudia Karvan, Trisha Noble, Ian Roberts, Anthony Phelan and Sandy Finlay are just of some of the local stars who appeared – although in some cases you will be hard pressed to spot them.

Here are the other actors who brought a taste of Australia to that galaxy far, far away.

PETER SUMNER

“TK 421, why aren’t you at your post?” Australian actor Peter Sumner in Star Wars.

Australia’s connections to Star Wars go all the way back to the first film. Sydney-born actor Peter Sumner happened to be in England in 1976 when the Death Star sequences were being filmed at Elstree Studios, and he took the two-day job (which paid £60 a day, or $A116 today) because he was low on cash. His time on screen as Empire Lieutenant Pol Treidum was brief – just a few lines of dialogue before the character met a grisly end courtesy of Chewbacca – but the appearance dogged him for the rest of his life. Sumner would later joke to journalists that he spent more money replying to fan mail than he ever earned from the role. On a more serious note, he also told a News Corp journalist that his agent contacted Lucasfilm regarding royalties after an action figure bearing his likeness was produced, but he never got an answer. Sumner died aged 74 in 2016.

ROSE BYRNE

Rose Byrne (right) with Natalie Portman in a scene from Attack of the Clones.

Rose Byrne had already started making a name for herself on Australian film and TV, including a lead role opposite Heath Ledger in Two Hands in 1999, when she was cast in Attack of the Clones as Senator Amidala’s handmaiden Dorme. “It was shot in Sydney, so they had to get a bunch of Australians in the cast,” Byrne later told the fan site Uproxx. “I think that’s why I got the part. ‘We better hire that girl!’ I’m like one of the point zero one per cent who is not a Star Wars fan.”

JACK THOMPSON

Jack Thompson played a moisture farmer on Tattooine in Attack of the Clones.

Jack Thompson’s appearances on local screens go back decades, but his appearance as Cliegg Lars in Attack of the Clones was one of just a handful of films the Aussie acting legend made for a more international audience. (Others include Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and The Good German.) In a subsequent interview Thompson said the role – which he initially sought after the urging of his then 10-year-old son – had brought him more fan mail than anything else he had ever done in his career. But playing Darth Vader’s stepfather, he said, was too good an opportunity to pass up.

GRAEME BLUNDELL

Graeme Blundell played Amidala’s father – making him Luke Skywalker’s grandfather – in Attack of the Clones.

Known for his breakthrough role as Alvin Purple in the early ’70s, Graeme Blundell’s scenes as Queen Amidala’s father in Attack of the Clones were cut from the cinema release, but offered as part of additional material in a Blu-ray version in 2011. He also appeared briefly on screen in episode three, Revenge of the Sith. Writing in The Australian (for which he is TV editor) about his experience on set, Blundell described director George Lucas as a “small man with a beard from Central Casting” who had a “pale-grey editing-suite calmness about him”. Appearing alongside Claudia Karvan (who played Amidala’s sister), Blundell revealed he knew little about the film before he shot scenes in both Sydney and Italy. “Confidentiality clauses prevented me talking of plot points (I didn’t know any), my character’s relationship to the story (no idea), and even the character’s name (which I didn’t know),” he wrote.

JOEL EDGERTON

Joel Edgerton on set in Tunisia as Owen Lars in Attack of the Clones.

Joel Edgerton played a young Owen Lars (Luke Skywalker’s uncle, played by Phil Brown in the 1977 original) in both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. And interestingly, his time in that galaxy far, far away may not be over: asked recently whether he might reprise the role for the forthcoming stand-alone Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series starring Ewen McGregor, Edgerton said there was a “very real possibility”.

In a 2018 interview with Total Film magazine, Edgerton described the role as like hitting the jackpot. “Star Wars allowed me, in that 18-month period while they were putting the movie together, to bluff my way into any meeting I wanted,” he revealed, adding that he did not have to reveal he was only a few scenes. “That was a good time and allowed me to get my first job out of the States,” he added.

BONNIE PIESSE

Bonnie Piesse sported Leia-esque buns while playing Beru in Attack Of The Clones.

Bonnie Piesse was just 18 when she cast as Beru (played by English actress Shelagh Fraser in Star Wars) for both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Since then she has continued to work as an actor, recording artist and songwriter. “I’m constantly amazed and forever grateful for the opportunities that role has opened up in my life,” she has said. The fact that Joel Edgerton has teased his possible involvement in the new Obi-Wan Kenobi spin-off has prompted speculation that Piesse may also appear in the new venture.

BRUCE SPENCE

Acting veteran Bruce Spence was unrecognisable when he appeared in Revenge of the Sith as the character Tion Meddon.

He’s usually instantly recognisable on screen or stage because of his sheer height (198cm), but New Zealand born Spence was hard to pick when he appeared in heavy prosthetics (which reportedly took four hours to apply) in Revenge of the Sith. Spence has appeared in a range of other film franchises and sequels, including Mad Max, The Matrix, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings.

JAY LAGA’AIA

Jay Laga'aia as Captain Typho with Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi in a scene from Attack of the Clones.

From Play School to Summer Bay and the planet Naboo, New Zealand born Laga’aia has had a varied career in film and television, and has previously named working on Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith as his career highlights. Laga’aia initially auditioned for the part of Jango Fett before being offered the role of Captain Typho, Senator Amidala’s loyal bodyguard.

LEEANNA WALSMAN

Leeanna Walsman played a ruthless bounty hunter hiding a secret in Attack Of The Clones.

It was a small but memorable role for actor Leeanna Walsman when she appeared as bounty hunter Zam Wessell in Attack of the Clones. The then 23-year-old was reportedly spotted by a Lucasfilm casting director when she appeared in the Sydney Theatre Company production of La Dispute, opposite Rose Byrne. Walsman has worked solidly in movies and television ever since. Next up she’ll appear in Penguin Bloom with Naomi Watts and Jacki Weaver, the based-on-real-events story of an Aussie family whose lives are changed after they take in an injured magpie.

Originally published as Star Wars: The Australian actors who starred in the space saga