Matt Smith teases game-changing 'Star Wars' role cut from 'Rise of Skywalker'

Matt Smith has opened up about his Star Wars role that never quite got off the ground.

The 39-year-old former Doctor Who actor was long-rumoured to be joining the Star Wars universe in its ninth instalment, The Rise Of Skywalker.

However, when the film was released in 2019, he was nowhere to be seen.

Read more: 'Star Wars: Visions' ranked

Speaking on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, Smith remained coy about what the role entailed, and especially tight-lipped when host Josh Horowitz suggested he may have played Emperor Palpatine’s son.

Confirming he was, at one point, lined-up to appear in the final instalment of the franchise, Smith claimed that the role simply “became obsolete” as production continued.

“We were close to me being in it, but then it just never quite happened,” he said. “I think the thing they were thinking of me for, eventually the part became obsolete and they didn’t need it, and so I never got to be in Star Wars.”

Read more: 'Game of Thrones' prequel 'House Of The Dragon' releases first trailer featuring Matt Smith

On the rumours of playing Palpatine’s son, he continued: “I could not possibly say but it was a pretty groovy thing.”

“It was a big story detail, like a, you know, transformative Star Wars story detail but it never quite got over the line,” Smith added. “It was a big shift in the history of the franchise.”

However, the role didn’t even get as far as a costume test, with Smith adding there were “a couple of meetings” to talk about it but that’s it.

He finished by adding: “Maybe I can come back, you never know.”

Smith is now starring in Last Night In Soho, the latest film by Edgar Wright.

While he may not have made it into the Star Wars universe just yet, he will at least be heading into another massive franchise with a role in the upcoming Morbius.

Morbius, which will be released in January 2022, is the newest addition to the ever-expanding Marvel Universe, and stars Jared Leto as the “living vampire” that is both hero and villain within the Spiderman world.

Read more: 'Game of Thrones' prequel 'House of the Dragon' spotted filming on Cornish coast with grisly props

Smith is also slated to star in the upcoming Game Of Thrones spin-off, House Of The Dragon as Daemon Targaryen, whose relationship within the Targaryen family eventually sparks the inter-family civil war known as the Dance Of Dragons.

The series is set 300 years before the events of the original Game Of Thrones series, and will co-star Olivia Cooke, Rhys Ifans, Emma D’Arcy and Paddy Considine.

Watch: The Rise Of Skywalker trailer released