His character got big laughs from early audiences

(Getty)

When rumours circulated earlier in the year that Daniel Craig was going to make a cameo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the Spectre actor dismissed them typically brusquely.

“Why would I ever bother doing something like that?” he raged. “F*cking hell! Pffft. ‘Play an extra in another movie’.”

Now it has transpired that that was mock outrage, with EW this morning getting the scoop on his involvement from a source who claims Craig ultimately “did it for sh*ts and grins”.

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Without giving away too much (if you’ve seen the film you’ll know which bit I mean), this is the scene he appears in:

[MILD TO MEDIUM SPOILER]

Rey (Daisy Ridley) finds herself captured by the enemy and attempts a bit of an Obi-Wan-esque “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for” mind trick on the Stormtrooper keeping guard, telling him: “You will remove these restraints and leave this cell with the door open.”

The Stormtrooper in question? Daniel Craig.

It’s not surprising the cameo went unnoticed by most, as Craig stays under his helmet for the entirety of the scene, and his voice is altered somewhat by that robotic vocal filter all Stormtroopers seem to have.

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Craig’s cameo is arguably more substantial and definitely funnier than Simon Pegg’s, who plays a shady spare parts dealer on Rey’s native Jakku.