Actor Domhnall Gleeson’s recent appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” included a chat about his experience on a “Star Wars” ride at Walt Disney World.
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Gleeson appears on the Rise of the Resistance ride, an attraction within the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park. He portrays General Armitage Hux, a role he held in three films, starting with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in 2015. His Hux character is seen in projection form with Kylo Ren in the attraction’s detention cell and later up on the bridge of the Star Destroyer.
Before all that, Rise riders queue past dozens of stormtroopers in a large hangar bay.
In real life, “when I went, I kind of snuck in,” Gleeson told Fallon on the NBC talk show.
“One of the stormtroopers came over and said ‘It’s good to see you undercover, General,’” Gleeson said. “They stayed in character. …. And when I was leaving, they all saluted me. It was amazing.”
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Gleeson, who currently stars in “The Paper” series on Peacock, has the unusual distinction of also appearing in a Universal Orlando attraction. He is seen in character as Bill Weasley during Harry Potter and the Escape From Gringotts roller coaster at Universal Studios Florida theme park. Gleeson played that role in the final two “Harry Potter” films, which coincide with the “Deathly Hallows” book. He also talked with Fallon about attending the grand opening of the Gringotts ride.
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“I have more lines in the amusement park rides than I do in the movies,” Gleeson joked with Fallon.
For that matter, Fallon appears at Universal Studios Florida as part of the Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon simulator ride. Universal parks, NBC and Peacock are all currently part of the Comcast corporate family.
(Sidenote/cocktail party fodder: Another well-known actor pulls off the Disney-Universal ride perfecta. Actor Chris Pratt re-creates his “Jurassic World” role in the queue of Jurassic World VelociCoaster at Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park, and he reprises Peter Quill in the buildup to Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind coaster at Epcot.)
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