Star Wars has boasted some truly incredible actors over the decades, but here are 10 who were completely wasted in their roles. Upcoming Star Wars movies will continue to include Hollywood names, from Ryan Gosling and Sigourney Weaver to Pedro Pascal. However, when looking back at the Star Wars movie timeline, it is easy to forget some major actors played a part in the galaxy.

Be it Star Wars‘ greatest heroes or its strongest villains, some big actors have been lost in the grandeur of a galaxy far, far away. Some of these actors in question have either gone on to bigger and better things since appearing in Star Wars or were already mᴀssive names and simply wasted as a result.

Either way, here are 10 performances that Star Wars squandered by amazing actors.

Ahmed Best

To begin with, we have Ahmed Best, primarily known for portraying Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Best’s voice talents are amazing, as evidenced by the now-iconic tone of Jar Jar himself. However, the hatred Jar Jar received reflected negatively on Best, too, resulting in both being somewhat sidelined post-The Phantom Menace.

Best simply deserved more than this. Jar Jar’s writing was the fault of George Lucas, not the actor himself. However, the talents Best had as a motion capture performer and voice artist were not reflected in the role he received.

Best could have played a deep, complex alien character in Star Wars, or even a live-action character, as proven by his limited, equally wasted, yet no less exciting cameo in The Mandalorian as Kelleran Beq. Hopefully, in the future, Best can be given a role to reflect his unique acting abilities.

Temuera Morrison

No actor in Star Wars history has been more openly excited, dedicated, and loyal to the franchise than Temuera Morrison. Despite that loyalty and endless enthusiasm to be part of Star Wars, Morrison has been wasted in various projects.

The prequels included Morrison as the face of the clone army, Jango Fett, with neither Fett nor any individual clones receiving much depth or focus at all. Since 2005, the clones have now become more synonymous with Dee Bradley Baker and the timeline of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which provided several characters with the depth Morrison deserved to work with.

Morrison’s break seemingly came after The Mandalorian season 2 with The Book of Boba Fett. Sadly, the latter project is often considered one of the worst-ranked Star Wars TV shows. It did not provide BobaFett with a compelling reason for returning to Star Wars and felt more like The Mandalorian season 2.5, unfortunately resulting in Morrison being sidelined once more.

Morrison has remained open about his desire to return to Star Wars since then and has let his disappointment shine clear that he has not yet heard of an opportunity to come back. As a result, Morrison can certainly be classed as an incredible actor who has not had the chance to showcase that in Star Wars just yet.

Christopher Lee

When anyone hired Christopher Lee, they hired him with his extensive, decades-long acting experience in mind. From playing some of the most iconic villains of all time to appearing in major Hollywood franchises, Lee was a coup for Star Wars, a franchise well-known for hiring smaller actors and turning them into household names.

However, the role of Count Dooku in the prequel trilogy did not reflect Lee’s greatness. Dooku was introduced as a mere replacement for Darth Maul, the former having minimal screentime, a few lightsaber battles, and a death at the beginning of the very next movie.

An actor of Lee’s caliber deserved much more than this, arguably as one of the biggest villains across all three prequel movies, yet Star Wars failed to provide that for him.

Hannah John-Kamen

Hannah John-Kamen is now known for her roles in Ant-Man and the Wasp, Thunderbolts*, and the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday. Her MCU efforts, alongside several starring roles in well-known TV shows, have solidified her as a promising leading actor in Hollywood.

This makes her split-second appearance in Star Wars: The Force Awakens all the more baffling. John-Kamen appears as a First Order officer aboard Starkiller Base with no speaking lines or plot involvement. Knowing now where her charismatic charm has led her, this marks another case of Star Wars wasting a great actor.

Lupita Nyong’o

Lupita Nyong’o is an Academy Award-winning actor for her role in 12 Years a Slave​​​​​, and a performer who has appeared in a vast variety of Hollywood movies and independent projects alike. From her own MCU roles in Black Panther to Hollywood appearances in A Quiet Place, Us, and an upcoming role in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, Nyong’o’s resume speaks for itself.

In every role, Nyong’o is excellent, making the fact that she was wasted so badly in Star Wars’ sequel trilogy all the more baffling.

Taking an expressive, emotional, charismatic, commanding actor like Nyong’o and limiting her to a fully CGI character like Maz Kanata, that utilizes none of these strengths, is nothing short of a crime. Adding in how limited Maz’s role in the three sequel movies is, Star Wars‘ waste of Nyong’o is perhaps one of the more severe on this list.

Max von Sydow

Max von Sydow was known for his extensive work with legendary Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, as well as his vast appearances in several Hollywood productions. As a result, Von Sydow’s career spanned over 70 years, much like the aforementioned Christopher Lee.

As with Lee, though, the role given to Von Sydow in Star Wars was underwhelming, to say the least. Von Sydow’s appearance as Lor San Tekka in the opening moments of Star Wars: The Force Awakens is frustratingly brief before his character is killed. For an actor as revered as Von Sydow, this was the epitome of a wasted role.

Gwendoline Christie

Concerning characters wasted by Star Wars’ sequel trilogy, Von Sydow’s Lor San Tekka is just the tip of the iceberg. Gwendoline Christie was also cast in the three movies, yet relegated to her role as Captain Phasma. Phasma was hyped up for her striking chrome stormtrooper armor.

Despite the pre-release hype, she did next to nothing in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and was killed instantly upon her return in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Casting an actor with the charisma, charm, but also domineering presence of Christie as a Star Wars villain was a recipe for greatness. As with the many others on this list, though, Christie’s strengths were wasted.

Benicio del Toro

Benicio del Toro is another Academy Award-winning actor, known for bringing complex, morally ambiguous characters to life with body language, minimal dialogue, and a brooding intensity. His role as DJ in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, a morally corrupt hacker, seemed tailor-made to bring out yet another excellent performance from the Puerto Rican actor.

The Last Jedi wasted this, however. Del Toro was barely used in the movie, with his role being part of a subplot that did not tie back to the overall story the film was telling. This rendered DJ an unmemorable aspect of Star Wars, which alone is a crying shame, given that Del Toro is anything but forgettable in a vast majority of his performances.

Jodie Comer

Jodie Comer rose to prominence thanks to her Emmy-winning performance in Killing Eve. She has since become a more mainstay Hollywood actor, appearing in the likes of Free Guy, The Last Duel, and 28 Years Later. Given her meteoric rise in the last decade, her role in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is made much worse.

Comer appeared as Rey Skywalker’s mother in a few small flashback scenes. As such a big actor now, Star Wars should have utilized Comer better. Having Comer, who is so great at letting emotion drive her work, play a grieving mother who has to leave her child behind in a bigger role seems like an excellent idea. Sadly, Star Wars wasted this potential.

Richard E. Grant

Overall, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker made several controversial decisions. Alongside wasting Comer, wasting Richard E. Grant was another. A multi-award-winning actor and Academy Award nominee, Grant playing an arrogant, domineering First Order officer in Star Wars could have been perfect, emulating the work of Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin.

Unfortunately, as was the case with many aspects of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Grant was introduced as Allegiant General Enric Pryde for fan service above actual, engaging storytelling. Casting Grant in this role caused a lot of excitement, yet it did not amount to much. The Rise of Skywalker is emblematic of this in many ways, with Star Wars’ latest wasted actor supporting as much.