The unexpected appearance of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in *The Mandalorian* is etched in the annals of Star Wars lore as one of the most jaw-dropping surprises. Rosario Dawson, who joined the franchise, shared with us at Star Wars Celebration that she was completely in the dark about Hamill's cameo until he walked onto the set of *The Book of Boba Fett*.
Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau had already revealed their clever use of Jedi Master Plo Koon as a decoy to keep Luke's cameo under wraps. But in our conversation, they also recounted the amusing tale of how Dawson experienced one of the most significant surprises of her career due to an accidental oversight in communication.
To maintain this colossal secret, the scripts featuring Luke Skywalker were altered to include Plo Koon instead. Dawson, like everyone else, was subjected to this precaution against leaks. She remembers reading about Plo Koon's unexpected arrival in the script for *The Book of Boba Fett*, which bewildered her as much as it would any Star Wars enthusiast, knowing well that the Jedi Master had met his demise in *Revenge of the Sith*.
"I was like... I don't know... but people disappear and then they come back, so maybe it's possible?" Dawson mused. "And then Mark Hamill was on set and surprised me and it was a whole thing. He even said, 'Plo Koon? That wouldn't even make sense!' and I'm like, 'I know it didn't make sense, but I still had to think it made sense because I got the script and everything!'
Favreau and Filoni expressed immediate remorse for not informing her earlier, admitting, "That was bad on us!"
"I think we assumed you'd gotten told the right information," Filoni added with a chuckle. "We were in it so much."
"There were two secrets we knew we had to keep on the show," Favreau explained. "One was Grogu's reveal at the end of the first episode, and the other one was Luke Skywalker at the end of season two. We were biting our nails all the way through, and we somehow miraculously made it cleanly to both of those because everything else leaked. But, unfortunately, we didn't fill in our partner here."
Dawson took it in stride, humorously remarking, "I love it, they know I can't be trusted."
