Three members of NSYNC landed cameos in a ‘Star Wars’ movie but their parts ended up on the cutting room floor.
Chris Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez and Joey Fatone were thrilled to be given the chance to play Jedi Knights in 2002 movie ‘Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones’ featuring in a scene alongside stars Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor – but their roles were edited out of the final version before it hit cinemas.
During an appearance on the ‘Hot Ones’ YouTube show, the band were asked if rumours of a ‘Star Wars’ cameo were true, and Lance Bass said: “Ask these guys” as he gestured to Kirkpatrick, Chasez and Fatone.
Kirkpatrick then explained: “We were the three! It never made it to the screen.”
The stars were asked to be in the film because producer Rick McCallum’s daughters were big NSYNC fans and they filmed two scenes – including a battle sequence – dressed in Jedi robes and Padawan braids.
Fellow bandmember Justin Timberlake then confessed he and Bass were jealous of the three who got the chance to step onto the ‘Star Wars’ set.
He said: “I think I remember us getting a call like, ‘You’re never going to believe what happened’. Me and Lance were so butthurt.”
Bass then added: “But they got cut out anyway, so it doesn’t even matter.”
The trio went through fight scene training before being put in front of the cameras and Fatone joked they were all making sound effects as they brandished their lightsabers.
He said: “The dumbest thing, though, is when we were doing the scenes, you literally are going ‘voom voom’ like an idiot.”
The singer went on to reveal he has been trying to track down the lost footage showing them in the movie, but he’s had no luck so far.
He added: “I’ve asked Rick McCallum, the producer: ‘Where’s the footage?’ because I know he has it. So let’s get that footage please. I wanna see it!'”
Speaking in a 2015 interview with the Huffington Post, Fatone suggested the footage was cut to avoid a potential backlash from ‘Star Wars’ fans.
He explained: “They just didn’t want to have to deal with it, so they just basically cut the scene out.”