'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' Confirmed To Feature A Cameo From A Key Prequel Character

Even though Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will focus on an entirely new crew of characters as they attempt to steal the plans to the first Death Star, there will still be some familiar characters that Star Wars fans will have no problem recognizing. We already know that Darth Vader is making a return in the spin-off that takes place before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, and now we have confirmation of another character we've seen on the big screen before returning as well. But this one comes from the prequel trilogy.

Find out which Rogue One cameo was recently confirmed after the jump.

When the sizzle reel for Rogue One was revealed during Star Wars Celebration last month, fans immediately began breaking down the footage, looking for any possible clues of what else we would see in the first Star Wars spin-off. One eagle-eyed fan took notice of a character lurking behind a camera in some behind the scenes footage:

Many agreed that this man could easily be none other than Bail Organa, the adopted father of Princess Leia Organa. The character was played by Jimmy Smits in both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, but he's been referenced as a key officer in the Rebel Alliance as well, so seeing him popping up in Rogue One would just make sense. And now Jimmy Smits has confirmed we'll see him pop up in the spin-off. Here's a video from his recent appearance on The Talk, the poor man's version of The View:

Jimmy Smits plays it cool at first, but then he teases, "Can you say the word 'cameo'? Can you say the words 'small part'?" That's about all we need for confirmation that Bail Organa will appear in Rogue One. That's probably the most overt tie to the prequels the movie will have beyond the presence of Darth Vader. Though we do also have Saw Gerrera, a character from The Clone Wars animated series brought into the live-action universe in the form of Forest Whitaker, so there's another prequel tie-in for you.

There's a lot riding on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and the rumors surrounding the reshoots have been a little worrisome. If for some reason the more unnerving rumors about the state of the film were true, we just hope Lucasfilm has enough time to get the film into the right shape before it arrives on December 16 this winter.