*Star Wars: The Force Awakens spoiler alert*
Ewan McGregor’s cameo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been revealed.
McGregor reprised his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi from the prequels for a voice cameo in the seventh installment in the epic franchise.
Director J. J. Abrams confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that he not only employed the three original members – Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill – but also the voices of veterans McGregor, Frank Oz (Yoda) and the late Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan Kenobi).
"The idea of the voices was, we wanted the audience to feel – but not necessarily be presented right in your face – this idea that familiar, Force-strong voices were connecting with her," he told the publication. "At least as well as they could.
"You do hear a little bit of Yoda. You hear Luke yelling out, 'Nooo!' from that moment in Empire. And you hear Obi-Wan at the end say, 'Rey... these are your first steps’.”
McGregor's voice can be heard during a scene in which Daisy Ridley's character Rey touches Luke Skywalkwer's lightsaber, after discovering it in Maz Kanata's castle, and has a dream-like flashback where she hears the voices belonging to McGregor, Oz and Guinness.
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McGregor is heard whispering "Rey" in the flashback which also includes a cut up of Guinness' voice saying "afraid" from the original trilogy.
Speaking about producer Bryan Burk's decision to include Guinness, Abrams said: "I said, 'That's cool, is that the thing from Ewan McGregor?' He said 'No, we took a line from Alec Guinness saying 'Afraid'.
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“They cut it, and you hear the performance – he’s saying it the way I would have begged Alec Guinness to have said it. It is so crazy perfect. So when you hear Obi-Wan talk to Rey it is both Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor doing the voice.”
Oz recorded new vocals for Yoda, but Abrams revealed that they used pre-existing dialogue for the final cut.
Other stars with secret roles are Simon Pegg who lends his voice to a cameo, and Daniel Craig whose role as a Stormtrooper was uncovered ahead of the film's release.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is in cinemas now.