The Boy Band That Almost Had A Cameo In 'Star Wars'

The "Star Wars" franchise has become so ingrained in modern culture that even casual viewers know the storylines and watch the spin-offs. What began as a simple space opera with the debut of "Star Wars: A New Hope" quickly exploded into a media empire complete with video games, action figures, comic books, and TV series. Even 40 years later, interest in the pop culture phenomenon isn't dying down anytime soon. Per Business Insider, "The Mandalorian" — which tells the story of a bounty hunter on the run with a Yoda-like creature the internet dubbed "Baby Yoda" — landed at No. 14 on Nielsen's list of most-watched streaming shows and movies of 2020. Disney+ cashed in on the popularity of the series by greenlighting it for a third season, which is due to drop in 2022.

And to celebrate May 4 (or "Star Wars" Day), Disney+ rolled out "Star Wars: The Bad Batch," a spinoff of the animated "Clone Wars" series. Following Clone Force 99, or an elite squad of mercenaries who travel the galaxy on various missions, the show's popularity is proof that there are still lots of stories to be told in galaxies far, far away. While we wait for more, there's plenty to discover about the original trilogy and prequels — for example, the story of a boy band that almost made a cameo in "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones."

It ain't no lie! According to *NSYNC member Joey Fatone and his brother Steven, the band filmed a total of two scenes for "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" in 2001, as they told HuffPost. The cameo came at the request of director Chris Lucas and producer Rick McCallum's daughters, but *NSYNC was quick to jump at the chance. Even though the role wasn't a speaking one, no one was more excited than Fatone, whose house "used to have a whole section devoted to 'Star Wars,'" per HuffPost. Maybe because he was such a die-hard fan, Fatone wasted no time when instructing his brother on the particulars of lightsaber combat. 

"[The producers] basically said, 'Pretend like you're fighting droids,'" Fatone told the outlet, adding that due to the lack of direction, he and Steven were swinging around in confusion. When Steven started making "vroom vroom vroom noises," Fatone asked his brother what he was thinking. "You're making the lightsaber noises. Don't do that, because you can see your face on the screen," Fatone said, per HuffPost. In addition to the fighting scene, *NSYNC also filmed a segment where they lounged in a corridor, while Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda walked by. "A couple of Jedis hanging out," Fatone explained to the outlet. Steven added that he, Joey, JC Chasez, and Chris Kirkpatrick were given "the Jedi garb, the brown and tan robes," complete with lightsabers.

Playing an extra in a "Star Wars" film is basically a rite of passage at this point. From Daniel Craig, who donned a stormtrooper helmet in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" for "sh**s and grins" to Tom Hardy in "The Last Jedi," there's no shortage of actors who will raise their hands for a cameo, just to say they were in "Star Wars." But, unlike Craig, who made it into the final cut of the film, *NSYNC wasn't so lucky. "I don't want to get into it, but what the f***? What the h*** happened?" Joey Fatone asked director Chris Lucas, according to HuffPost. But he and the rest of the band were grateful for the opportunity, even if Lucas did say "Bye Bye Bye" to their cameo. "Because of the fact we were such huge 'Star Wars' fans, to be able to do something like that was pretty amazing," Fatone told the outlet.

Steven Fatone coped with his disappointment by photoshopping the band and Britney Spears (who was Justin Timberlake's girlfriend at the time) onto a T-shirt, which Joey wore to the premiere of "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith." However, one of the Jedis during the battle scene on Geonosis resembles certain characteristics that Joey was supposed to have — including fighting with a blue lightsaber and having a shaved head with a mohawk — so there's a possibility he did sneak into the film, after all? Make of it what you will.