British popstar rejected Star Wars TV show ‘after being asked to cut off dreadlocks’
He featured in a 2016 movie that sparked the acclaimed spin-off series.
Jordan Stephens has revealed he turned down an offer to appear in a Star Wars series after being asked to cut off his dreadlocks.
The Rizzle Kicks rapper, 33, has also appeared in TV shows including Drunk History, Catastrophe and The Ex-Wife.
In 2016 he played Corporal Stordan Tonc in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which starred Felicity Jones, Diego Luna and Ben Mendelsohn.
Now, Jordan has said he was asked to reprise his role in the series Andor, a prequel to Rogue One that follows thief-turned-rebel spy Cassian Andor (Diego Luna).
Posting on TikTok this week, he explained: ‘I was asked to be in a season of Andor, I don’t know which one. My character from Star Wars: Rogue One, Corporal Stordan Tonc, he was going to come back. I was like wow, that’s mad exciting.’
However, he was then asked by producers to cut his hair for the job.
Jordan Stephens didn’t want to cut of ‘six years worth’ of dreadlocks (Picture: Rex/ Shutterstock) @jordanfstephens????????????
♬ original sound – Jordan Stephens He played Corporal Stordan Tonc in Star Wars: Rogue One (Picture: Disney)‘A week before the shoot, they were like, “Can we see what you look like?”. I sent them a picture and they were like, “Can you cut off your dreadlocks?”,’ he recalled.
‘This is what they asked me to do, for one scene. Obviously that’s ridiculous. That’s like six years of hair growth, I’m not cutting it off for one scene.’
Although Jordan said he offered to wear a helmet as a compromise, it wasn’t enough.
‘What’s even more funny is I said, “Why can’t I just wear a helmet like I did in Rogue One?” and they went, “We don’t think it would be realistic”. A reality where we’re fighting slugs with laser guns but wearing a helmet is too far. Nice,’ he quipped while speaking to the camera.
Andor premiered in 2022 and holds a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Labelled ‘emotionally moving and gripping’ by one fan, it was also nominated for three Emmy awards.
The second season is set to air in April.
The 2016 movie also starred Riz Ahmed, Diego Luna, Felicity Jones, Jiang Wen and Donnie Yen (Picture: Jonathan Olley/ Lucasfilm Ltd/ Kobal/ Rex/ Shutterstock) The second season of the critically acclaimed series will be released soon (Picture: Des Willie/ Lucasfilm Ltd.)In 2022 Jordan spoke to Metro about balancing his music and acting career alongside presenting work and even being a children’s book author.
‘I know, it’s exhausting,’ he replied when asked how he manages to find the time to juggle it all.
‘I’m going to break the Guinness World Record for the most cartwheels across Asia,’ he joked at first, before adding that, ‘if I’m going to answer this as sensibly and honestly as possible, this year for whatever reason a lot of seeds have come to fruition and that’s probably why it seems chaotic.
‘I just like expressing myself, that’s it and I’m just as exhausted as everyone else; but sometimes I do envy those with one creative avenue who can and get to focus on one thing.’
Metro has contacted Disney Plus for comment.
Andor season 2 is streaming from April 22 on Disney Plus.
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