When a franchise has been running for 49 years, the kids who were fans from the start grow up, and some of them end up with enough clout to talk themselves into being in another movie. Casting a Star Wars film is a big job, but celebrity volunteers for the small roles and the extras just come out of the woodwork. It's as easy as "This is (someone already famous). Can I be in your movie?" Sure thing! Put a movie star into a stormtrooper helmet, and you don't have to give them screen credit. Some of these stars are such avid fans that you wouldn't even have to pay them, but that's probably against union rules. In some cases, you don't even have to be a movie star, if the crew already knows you.
Read up on 15 of the unlikely cameos and extras that celebrities talked Star Wars producers into at Cracked.
Commenting on Neatorama will earn you NeatoPoints!