There are major film franchises, and then there’s Star Wars. Generations have grown up on the galaxy far, far away, and a number of celebs have made cameos such as Daniel Craig. But some of these appearances have also been left on the cutting room floor over the years. Case in point: that time *NSYNC almost cameoed as Jedi in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. Let’s break it all down.
Attack of the Clones hit theaters back in 2002, when *NSYNC was still topping the charts as a wildly popular pop group. There have been rumors about the “Bye Bye Bye” singers showing up in Star Wars, and they’ve finally set the record straight. While appearing on Hot Ones ahead of *NSYNC’s new single, they revealed that three members of the band filmed: Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, and JC Chasez (although that’s not his given name). The latter singer confirmed they were Jedi in the sequence, saying:
We were Jedis. We had to learn a bit of sword choreography.
Well, my FOMO is going through the roof. Not only were 3 out of the 5 *NSYNC members meant to cameo in Attack of the Clones, but they were lucky enough to wield lightsabers and become Jedi. This is a dream for any Star Wars fan, including those who built their own lightsaber at Galaxy’s Edge. Unfortunately, they were dropped from the movie’s theatrical cut.
As the group reminisced about this time, they spoke about the vitriol that came from Star Wars fans when it was revealed that *NSYNC has recorded a cameo in Attack of the Clones. They also spoke about how jealous Lance Bass and Justin Timberlake were at the time that they couldn’t get in on the fun. As Timberlake put it:
Me and Lance were so butthurt. So when you guys got cut out we were like (laughs).
Understandable. I mean, who doesn’t want to be a Jedi? I have to wonder where Timberlake and Bass were that made them unavailable to film alongside the rest of the band. Although in the end they were cut from the theatrical release, and never got to see footage of themselves in the space opera.
Later on their appearance on Hot Ones, Joey Fatone lamented about not being able to see himself and his bandmates in their full Jedi glory. It turns out that he’s actively tried to seek out the footage over the years, as he put it:
I have asked the Rick McCallum the producer, where’s the footage? Because I know he has it. Let’s get that footage please. I’d like to see it.
Give us the footage, you cowards! *NSYNC is known for their intricate dance routines, so smart money says they’d take to fight and lightsaber choreo well. And even if they got cut from Attack of the Clones, it would be fun to see that forgotten footage make its way online. And smart money says somewhat as Lucasfilm has access to the unused content. I’m assuming the trio of singers would have appeared during the Battle of Genosis, where a huge number of Jedi appeared to save Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padme.
The Star Wars franchise is streaming in its entirety on Disney+, and there’s a new trilogy of movies in development. In the meantime, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.