Star Wars loves a surprise cameo. Celebrity sightings have skyrocketed in the Disney+ era — one episode of The Mandalorian alone saw roles filled by Jack Black, Lizzo, and Christopher Lloyd.
The latest Star Wars series, Skeleton Crew, is no exception, but in Episode 3, two notable actors were hidden behind the aliens they voiced. Kh’ymm, the owl-like creature Jod and the kids met, spoke enough that her actor, Arrested Development star Alia Shawkat, became soon apparent. The other big cameo, however, was far more obscure, despite featuring a familiar movie star.
When Jod is trying to liberate SM-33, he runs into Benjar Pranic, an old crewmate from his time as Captain Silvo. While Jod is trying to shuffle SM-33 out to his ship, Benjar offers to listen to Jod’s troubles, but betrays him and reveals he’s alerted the guards to Jod’s presence. Hey, it’s a pirate depot; you can’t trust anyone.
Pranic doesn’t look or even sound familiar. He’s a member of the Ishi Tib species, best known for appearing alongside Jabba in Return of the Jedi, and his voice has a heavy cockney accent. It’s not until the credits roll that we learn it was Alfred Molina providing the voice.
Molina has acted in everything from Raiders of the Lost Ark to The Da Vinci Code, but he’s probably best known, at least to genre fans, as Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man: No Way Home. No Way Home was directed by Skeleton Crew showrunner Jon Watts, so the connection makes sense.
A goofy voice role like this is nothing new for Molina. In recent years, he’s focused more and more on voice acting, lending his acting prowess (and British accent) to animated shows like Gravity Falls, Robot Chicken, Rick and Morty, and Harley Quinn. He even narrated the recent box-office flop Harold and the Purple Crayon.
Benjar Pranic may not be a a new species like Kh’ymm or a reference to a historic Star Wars character like Jod’s Crimson Jack alias, but he’s the continuation of another tried-and-true Star Wars tradition: calling up an old collaborator to have some fun with a minor role.
