Greg Grunberg To Have A Bigger Role In Star Wars: The Force Awakens?
ET Online caught up with actor Greg Grunberg at the 7th annual Valentine Romance Oscar Style Lounge & Party. Grunberg who confirmed back in September 2014 that he will make a cameo appearance in The Force Awakens, spoke about the filming process and what it’s like to reunite again with his friend J.J. Abrams.
From ET Online:
And you have Star Wars coming up.
I am so excited to even be in the movie! It’s going to be amazing. I can’t say anything about it, J.J. [Abrams] always has this thing about the mystery box. But he has given out a little hints via charity. That’s really great. I am a huge Star Wars fan so to be in the movie was such a thrill.
The weird thing is, while we were shooting, they had these drones taking pictures overhead. They were taking pictures of these vehicles we had, which were in the first Star Wars! And we were like, really, what’s the sneaky need for those pictures then? I mean it’s cool to see where we were shooting, I guess. But I said to J.J., what kind of scoop are they getting if this was already exposed back in the 1970s?
Where were you shooting?
In London, I was there for six weeks. It was fantastic. Great cast, great crew.
Did you and J.J. hang out a lot?
We are best friends since when we were little kids, so every single day, every minute that wasn’t between action and cut, we were together, hanging out. It’s just a really unique situation to be able to work with your friend like that.
He calls you his lucky charm!
Well I don’t know about that! Yeah, it’s true. Nothing he ever does would be successful if it wasn’t for me! (laughs) He’s the best.
What’s your favorite memory you have of being together as kids?
Great question! I think always kicking his ass in any sport. Especially now! I always tease him, ‘Oh yeah, you’re Mr. Big Shot now, but remember I beat you in H.O.R.S.E. when we were 11!’ We used to make films and I would star in many of them. I have great memories.
What do you love about working with him?
His generosity and his loyalty. On any show, it starts from the top down. He is so in control, so prepared and so creative and makes decisions. He is just so good and wonderful with everyone. His instincts are so good. I have known that since I was 3!
Did you know he was going to be famous when you guys were boys?
No! My dad claimed he knew. J.J. always was super talented!
Will you be working together in the future on other projects?
Always! We are always thinking about new things we can do together.
It appears that Grunberg’s role will be much bigger than expected. First it was believed that he will only make a cameo appearance, but you don’t film a cameo for 6 weeks. Also obviously he was part of the cast that filmed at Greenham Common, where the set was filmed by drones from some resourceful fans.
Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.
Born on April 24, 1980.
Maybe. Like he said, they’re buddies. The role could have still been fairly small, and they just hung out a lot.
I agree. If my best friend got me a bit part in a SW film, I’d hang out on set every chance there was. Who wouldn’t?
Maybe he filmed his actual “cameo” character, and then just stuck around to be like one or two of the background characters on the Greenham Commons base or that ‘pirate’s cove’ we keep hearing about. That could justify why he was there for 6 weeks. Or, maybe he just stuck around after his cameo was done…you know, because he’s so close to JJ.
So instead of an Imperial stormtrooper getting shot, he now plays an Imperial stormtrooper who yells “stop! Drop your blaster”…. and then gets shot.
Big deal.
Let’s have another big plot rumor, please.
I’m going to assume a Commander in the New Republic/Rebel Alliance
porkins v2.0 🙂
Yay! Overweight people doin’ stuff! xD
Just don’t turn him into BACON! xP
Oh they will. With all the Episode IV parallels going on, I won’t be surprised if he is playing Porkins’ grandson. Cuz you can never have enough A New Hope tie-ins, apparently.
I want to see a few overweight people kick butt in battle without getting killed. What if Grunberg was the “Wedge of the ST”?
Never heard of him
Next up, JJ’s grandma, grandpa and pet gold fish hint at their cameo’s in the force awakens.
He was in Lost and Heroes
I hear JJ’s goldfish plays Admiral Ackbar’s son.
” It’s a trap!”
Real pet gold fish too…a practical effect not CGI. 🙂
Kenth Hamner, they have him as a background Jedi that was trained by Luke and they are goign to use him as one of the characters in a spinoff live action TV show.
Probably not but I hope, he looks like he would make an awesome Kenth Hamner.
an X-wing pilot?
So he’s been upgraded from “I’m hit!” to “There’s too many of them!” LOLOLOL..
Filmmakers have been utilizing friends, associates and family in films since it’s inception, its part of the trade, especially in the early decades.
Greg Grunberg is a talented actor, I don’t mind if he had a speaking part.
I really want him to be Kenth Hamner for some reason.
And now I am imagining him as one of hte main characters of a Star Wars TV show about the Jedi trying to re-establish themselves in the republic.
He will play E.T. . E.T. is still canon.
I like Greg but to date probably is the worst choice of the cast.
Very memorable as the pilot from the first couple Lost episodes, he’s a nice guy and i’m sure had a positive effect on the rest of the crew when he was there.
This is as close to a non story as it gets.
This guy looks like an employee in Pawn Stars more than anything else. Hopefully he is the left operating side of a Hutt…
Dont be a d**k to people based solely on how they look okay.
Anon @ 01:58 AM
Your comment wasn’t nice, but I did chuckle at your Pawn Stars reference. I’m not made of stone.
Who?
His generosity and his loyalty… He is just so good and wonderful with everyone…
Why not interview Michael Arndt?
Or George Lucas …
JJ betrayed him,and all SW fans.
I hate that JJ has choosen to film his own version / story of SW. Who cares about his story, version, view of SW?
Due to his ego we will never see the ORIGINAL end of this saga. NEVER.
You overestimate this “original” ending. It’s not as if Lucas had a grand plan the whole time. From what I can tell he whipped up the prequel scripts in a few weeks just before shooting, and he whipped up some more treatments just before selling Lucasfilm. He also changes his story in nearly all his interviews as to his plans for the franchise. He just wings it, so I doubt it was anything spectacular. With that said, you can be sure Lucas will still have a big fat credit at the end of the film, most likely for the basic story, just not the screenplay or the direction… pretty much just like Empire and Jedi.
Just saying it’s a little premature to hate on the crew making this film. (But haters gonna hate I guess…)
one thing is for sure. Your comment was whipped up in less than a few weeks.
^ Sad.
Haha, true! (about my comment being whipped up) I even gave your comment a “like.” 😉 Sorry, I just get tired trying to cite random interview references and such, especially when a lot of fans know what I’m talking about. People can and will decide for themselves whether or not I’m telling the truth. The information is out there for anyone who cares enough to find it.
On another note, I’m sure if you have questions that trouble you about TFA, your fellow fans can help put you at ease, or in some cases agree that there are some things to be concerned about. Just ask instead of claiming JJ betrayed the fans and you hate that he was chosen. Peace bro.
Haters gotta hate….The Prequels
Anon @ 06:39 AM
“Due to his ego we will never see the ORIGINAL end of this saga. NEVER.”
Hey. Don’t scapegoat this on Abrams. Lucas could’ve at least made VII on his own but chose not to. He chose to sell it to Disney. They shouldn’t be forced to limit themselves to his treatments if they honestly think they can do better.
I can see it now: TFA will rule, but there will not fail to arise a slightly older generation of mostly PT fans who become the ST haters. Just when you thought the war was over….
ST HATER ANTHEM: I don’t care that TFA was a masterpiece that I saw 10 times in theatres! It’s STILL not Lucas’ vision!
JJ puts this slog in everything. Was boring since Felicity and will be boring and annoying forever after.
soo heres like an outline for the story
·Christine gwendoline is a chrometrooper who possesses a lightsaber but probably only is trained in jedi arts but not force sensitive like grevious plus shes related to tarkin
·Rey is leias and hans daughter could be she is also kylo rens (gleeson) sister or cousin and she is in hiding because she holds the item kylo ren wants to open the sith cave
·Fin is a stormtrooper but goes rogue realizing he cant kill innocent people because he is force sensitive and has that jedi love so he runs off he meets poe and rey and they go visit luke to tell him about the force.
·Luke is guarding the sith temple because he is guilty and feels responsible for kylo ren turning evil and the death of his jedi padawan and feels his duty to protect the sith cave and once he meets fin he is angry at rey for coming to him knowing it can cause danger but still accepts her and this is where flashbacks start he tells the story of kylo turning sith and something that AWAKENED in him
and then starts training fin even though he doesnt seem like he wants too
·Poe is a rebel and he and drivers character know each but they split up and poe encounters rey and fin before meeting luke
·Han and leia are looking for both luke and rey and they encounter a lot of problems like the chrometrooper and get trapped causing luke to get out of hiding and has to leave the sith cave alone knowing reys with him so kylo has no choose to go wheres hes at
·Kylo ren (played by gleeson) was a jedi trained by luke he is probably lukes son or nephew, but serkis character seduced him to the dark side and tells him about the power in the sith cave and gives him the sith lightsaber (Serkis maybye just using him) making kylo do the dirty work for him and killing the jedis who tried stopping him, kylo faces luke but loses to him and probably lost a limb and runs off but now searching for what serkis told him to find since luke had it but gave it to rey
·Adam drivers character was a rebel once leaving poe later on he encounters kylo ren and is afraid he might die but before kylo can kill him he sinces hes force sensitive and seduce him to the dark side instead and says hell train him (kylo probably knows serkis character might betray him)
· Max von sydow is an accomplice with the chrometrooper and they are ready to fights the rebels
· Luke comes in and so does kylo but kylo is not part of the rebels or the galaxy so theres a three way battle going on which the climax of the film
thats about what i have soo far im sorry i wrote too much i know its long lol
However it goes down, this was a fun read. Thanks.
no problem 🙂
You seem like someone that seeks attention, youre copy/pasting your same post in every new thread. Anyway, thanks for the briefing but stop saying Grievous is force sensitive because he’s not.
i never said he was force sensitive i said he was trained in the jedi arts similar to christine gwendolins character shes jedi arts trained but not force sensitive
I’m betting Grunberg is a recurring commander that’s just hanging around the base, reporting information periodically, meanwhile the Big 3 do something interesting.
Kind of how Ep IV has that white beard man, Ep V has the slick-haired man, and Ep VI has Madine/Mothma / Ackbar.
BTW, no Ackbar in Ep VII? 🙁
Here’s hoping for Ep VIII
Fat Keanu Reeves
“The only complaint I have is that they show too much of the master bad guy. Darth Z*****r is a guy that should be introduced ‘slowly’ over the course of the trilogy [Maybe not even seen in TFA at all.] Yet there he is….in like 6 whole scenes.”