Anna Daniels
The explanation is simple. Ever since Lost, Monaghan and Abrams have remained friends. Monaghan’s casting in The Rise of Skywalker was actually announced back in 2018, but as it turns out, there’s more to the story. The whole role hinged on a bet and the outcome of one fateful soccer match.
According to Inverse, Monaghan revealed the real story behind his Rise of Skywalker turn on the Distraction Pieces with Scroobius Pip podcast in the fall of 2018, saying that after Abrams promised him a role in the final installment of the Skywalker saga, he told his agent to clear his schedule for Abrams’ call. Sure enough, the director rang up Monaghan to offer him a role, but both Monaghan and Abrams decided to raise the stakes when the actor sat down to watch England play Colombia in the World Cup.
As Monaghan tells it, “At the start of that game — because J.J. is a motherf***** in the best way possible — he emailed me and he said, ‘I think I have a Star Wars part for you.’ And I wrote back and said, ‘Brilliant, I won’t bother you but let me know if there’s anything I can do or what I can say.’ He wrote back and said, ‘If England beat Colombia, you’re in.’ I was like, oh mate, you bastard.”
Ultimately, England won the game, and Monaghan won the role with a text from Abrams that simply said, “You’re in.” Monaghan might have had to fight a little harder than anticipated for the Rise of Skywalker role, but it was certainly worth the risk.
Written by: Looper
